Al-ʿAẓīm
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Al-ʿAẓīm (Arabic: اَلْعَظِيمُ) is one of the names of God in Islam. The meaning has been variously translated as "The Most Great," "The Mighty," or "The Tremendous," as mentioned in the Quran, and the Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad.
The word Al-ʿAẓīm (العظيم) is a superlative derived from the root ‘ayn-ẓā’-mīm (ع – ظ – م), which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to be or become great, huge, vast, enormous, tremendous, immense, stupendous; to make, or cause to become, great(er), big(ger), large(r), (more) grandiose, (more) imposing, (more) magnificent.[1]
It is a superlative also related to the noun ʿIẓām (عظام, 'bones'), which symbolically means greatness, magnanimity, and honour. As bones are the hardest part of the body to break, Al-‘Adheem means "the One whose greatness can’t be grasped by sight."[2]
Occurrence in Quran
The root appears 128 times in 50 surahs of the Quran in five derived forms: The word Al-ʿAẓīm (العظيم), which includes the attributes referring to God mentioned 6 times across 4 surahs, occurs most frequently. The other derivatives are Iẓām (عِظَاَمْ, 'bones'), Aʿẓam (أَعْظَمْ, 'greater/greatest'), ʿAẓm (عَظْمْ, 'bone'), Yuʿaẓẓim (يُعَظِّمْ, 'to honor, to respect, or to magnify'), and Yuʿẓim (يُعْظِمْ, 'to make great').[3] The attribute is notably mentioned in the Throne Verse of Surah al-Baqarah.
