النَّافِعُ
An-Nafi
The Benefiter
What An-Nafi Means
An-Nafi, the Benefiter, is the pair of Ad-Darr, and like its pair it must be introduced honestly: the noun An-Nafi does not occur as a name of Allah in the Quran. The Quran teaches the meaning directly instead. When Allah wills good for a person, ‘none can repel His bounty’ (10:107), and every benefit a human being has received reached him only through means Allah created and allowed. Scholars explain that this is precisely why gratitude and asking belong to Allah first: the doctor, the employer and the friend are doors, but the Benefit itself walks through only by His command. For the believer, An-Nafi corrects two opposite errors. He neither worships the means nor despises them, sitting idle while claiming trust. He uses every lawful means with his hands while his heart leans on the Benefiter alone, and when benefit arrives, he thanks the people — and thanks Allah above them.
An-Nafi in the Quran
وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ ٱللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُۥٓ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“If Allah causes you harm, there is no one to remove it except He Himself; and if He causes you good, then He is powerful over everything.”
وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ ٱللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُۥٓ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يُرِدْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَلَا رَآدَّ لِفَضْلِهِۦ ۚ يُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
“If Allah brings some harm to you, there is none to remove it except He. And if He intends to bring some good to you, there is none to turn His grace back. He brings it to whomever He wills from among His servants. He is the Most-Forgiving, the Very Merciful.”
What the Prophet ﷺ Taught Us
THE FOUNDATION OF THE 99 NAMES
“Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”
Calling Upon Allah by This Name
Allah Himself commands us to call upon Him by His beautiful names:
وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِىٓ أَسْمَـٰٓئِهِۦ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
“For Allah there are the most beautiful names. So, call Him by them, and leave those who deviate in (the matter of) His names. They shall be recompensed for what they have been doing.”
Call on Him in your own words: ‘Ya Nafi’, grant me knowledge that benefits, provision that benefits, and companions who benefit my faith.’ Ask Him by this name before you take the means: before the treatment or the interview, turn first to the One by whose will alone any of it can profit you. The Quran promises that when He intends good for you, nothing can push His bounty back (10:107). Its lesson is order: means in the hand, reliance in the heart, gratitude to the Benefiter Himself.
Quran translations: Mufti Taqi Usmani. Hadith texts and gradings: the DeenHub hadith library. Every reference on this page is from the Quran or from hadith graded Sahih or Hasan.