الْوَاسِعُ
Al-Wasi
The All-Encompassing
What Al-Wasi Means
Al-Wasi is from the root w-s-‘, meaning vastness and ample capacity. Allah is Al-Wasi: His knowledge, mercy, power and provision encompass everything, and nothing is too great or too small for Him. To Him belong the east and the west, and wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah — “Allah is Wasi, Alim” (2:115). His vastness shows in His giving: a charity He multiplies seven hundred times over is promised by the One who is “Wasi, Alim” (2:261), for His stores are never reduced by what He gives. And when a marriage ends, He enriches each side “from His abundance (sa’ah),” for He is “Wasi, Hakim” (4:130). For the believer, this name removes all cramped thinking about Allah: your sins are not too many for His knowledge to encompass, nor your needs too large for His provision.
Al-Wasi in the Quran
وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْمَشْرِقُ وَٱلْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا۟ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“To Allah belongs the East and the West. So, whichever way you turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.”
مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنۢبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِى كُلِّ سُنۢبُلَةٍ مِّا۟ئَةُ حَبَّةٍ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُضَـٰعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“The example of those who spend in the way of Allah is just like a grain that produced seven ears, each ear having a hundred grains, and Allah multiplies (the reward) for whom He wills. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.”
وَإِن يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ ٱللَّهُ كُلًّا مِّن سَعَتِهِۦ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعًا حَكِيمًا
“If they separate, Allah shall, through His capacity, make each of them need-free (of the other). Allah is All-Embracing, All-Wise.”
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.”
Allah commands us to call upon Him by His names (7:180), so call upon Him as Ya Wasi — for example, in your own words: “Ya Wasi, Your bounty encompasses everything and is never lessened by giving; widen my provision, widen my heart, and let me never think small of Your mercy.” The practical lesson is to ask largely and give largely: the one who believes his Lord’s capacity is limitless does not hoard out of fear, nor despair that his own situation is beyond Allah’s encompassing help (4:130).
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.