Al-Halim
The Clement
Exalted and Glorious
Allah will not call you to account for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but He will call you to account for that which your hearts have earned. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Forbearing. (2:225)
The seven heavens and the earth and all that is there-in, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving. (17:44)
This name means tolerance, forbearance, serenity, affability, and wisdom. Allah’s mercy overcomes His anger and He is ever inclined to forgive on penitence.
When one writes this name on a piece of paper and puts it in the place where seed is sown, no harm or calamity will befall the crop, if Allah so wishes. When one is angry, if he recites this name, Ya Hakim 88 times, his anger may subside. To help restore affection in a marriage, write this name on an apple, and eat it.
Al-Halim is the Patient One Who gives time but does not ignore. He veils sins and He delays punishments. He provides for the sinful in the same way as He provides for the obedient; so take on this quality in your life, and have patience and excuse people, and be in the most excellent way with them.
From: The Meanings of the Names of Our Lord, by Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rifa’i Head of the Higher Sufi Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land Teacher at the Dome of the Rock (al-Aqsa)
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He is forbearing in the punishment of the guilty. He waits, giving time to the sinner to realize his guilt and ask forgiveness in order that He may forgive rather than punish. He has absolute power and is just. Yet He is gentle and compassionate: He prefers to pardon the guilty rather than take vengeance.
So many among us deny Him, revolt against Him, disobey Him, tyrannize His good servants, mistreat His creation, and tyrannize themselves. And they keep doing this, not even getting a bellyache from eating what is stolen from orphans. Do not think that they will go unpunished. Allah al-‘Alim knows. Allah al-‘Adl judges. But the gentle al-Halim waits, preferring to see them regret, change, repent, compensate for the harm they have done, so that He may forgive them and transform them into good servants rather than destroy them.
In this compassionate attribute of Allah there is a breath of relief for all of us. Is there a day or an hour that passes in which we have not sinned? If Allah were prompt in His punishment, not giving us time to realize what we have done and its consequences, to beg His forgiveness and hope for His mercy, there wouldn’t be a person alive on the face of the earth. Allah says
If Allah were to punish people according to what they deserve, He would not leave on the back of the (earth) a single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated Term. (Surah Fatir 45)
Allah loves those pure and clean hearts that, like clear mirrors, reflect His beautiful attributes. Allah loves the gentle halim man who is not ready to condemn, to avenge, but rather waits and hopes that his adversary will change and become halim himself.
‘Abd al-Halim is blessed with perfect character. His manifestation is gentleness and forgiveness. Although having the power to punish and to take revenge, he will forgive and treat kindly the ones who tyrannize him. He will be forbearing in the face of the treachery of the deceitful and the stupidity of the vile. Yet he is always victorious over the mean with his gentleness.
If someone who is choleric recites ya Halim 88 times when he is about to flare up, his anger may subside.
If one of the partners of a marriage falls out of love, to write this Name on an apple and eat it may help to restore affection.
If this Name is written on a paper and dissolved in water and the water is sprinkled on a field or garden, the earth bears better crops, if Allah so wishes.
From: The Name & the Named, by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti
