Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy (ghaniyy ḥamīd)
غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ
ghaniyyun ḥamīdun — self-sufficient, praiseworthy
Across ten verses this pair of descriptions of Allah recurs in contexts of human need, ingratitude, withholding and turning away, so that reading them side by side shows the pairing functioning as a standing response to human refusal and dependence.
The pair ghaniyy ḥamīd appears in the verses given in three grammatical shapes: indefinite nominative (2:267, 14:8, 31:12, 64:6), indefinite accusative governed by kāna (4:131), and definite with the article (22:64, 31:26, 35:15, 57:24, 60:6). The contexts divide into recognisable groups. In three verses the pairing answers human ingratitude or refusal: 'if you cover (the truth) / are ungrateful... and Allah has always been Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy' (4:131); 'If you are ungrateful, you and whoever is on the earth all together, then indeed Allah is surely self-sufficient, praiseworthy' (14:8); 'whoever covers (it / is ungrateful), then indeed Allah is self-sufficient, praiseworthy' (31:12). In two verses it follows turning away: 'whoever turns away, then indeed Allah—He is the Self-sufficient, the Praiseworthy' (57:24, 60:6), where 57:24 names those who withhold and instruct others to withhold. In two verses it stands beside statements that everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah (22:64, 31:26). In 35:15 it is set directly against human need: 'you are the ones in need toward Allah, while Allah—He is the Self-sufficient, the Praiseworthy.' In 2:267 it closes an instruction to expend wholesome things, and in 64:6 it follows the verb istaghnā, 'Allah did without (them).' Read together, the occurrences show that the pairing is not a random collocation: in these verses it repeatedly stands at the point where human gratitude, giving or response fails, asserting that Allah's sufficiency and praiseworthiness do not depend on that response.
Where it occurs
- 2:267 Closes the instruction to expend wholesome things and not the vile: 'know that Allah is self-sufficient, praiseworthy.'
- 4:131 Follows the warning 'if you cover (the truth) / are ungrateful': 'Allah has always been Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy,' in the accusative after kāna.
- 14:8 Moses states that even if all on the earth were ungrateful, 'indeed Allah is surely self-sufficient, praiseworthy,' with the emphatic lām on laghaniyyun.
- 22:64 Follows the statement that to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, in the definite: 'the Self-sufficient, the Praiseworthy.'
- 31:12 Answers 'whoever covers (it / is ungrateful)' after the command given to Luqman to show gratitude.
- 31:26 Follows the statement that to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, in the definite.
- 35:15 Set in direct contrast to human need: 'you are the ones in need toward Allah, while Allah—He is the Self-sufficient, the Praiseworthy.'
- 57:24 Follows the description of those who withhold and teach withholding, and 'whoever turns away.'
- 60:6 Follows 'whoever turns away' from the fine model of those hoping for Allah and the Last Day.
- 64:6 Follows the verb istaghnā, 'Allah did without (them),' after the people's covering and turning away, then restates the pairing indefinitely.
All Qur'anic expressions