Al-Bari'
Al-Bari' is the One who brings creation into being free of fault, each part fitted exactly to its purpose.
Name 12 of 99
الْبَارِئُ
Al-Bari'
The Originator
- In Arabic
- الْبَارِئُ
- Transliteration
- Al-Bari'
- Position in the list
- Name 12 of 99
Al-Bari' — The Originator
What the name means
The root b-r-' means to be free of something — the same root as bara'ah, acquittal. Al-Bari' produces creatures free of disproportion: nothing superfluous, nothing missing, nothing at odds with the rest.
The Quran invites the test directly: look again at the sky, and look again — your sight returns to you exhausted, having found no flaw.
Living by this name
It answers the complaint against one's own body or circumstances. What looks like a defect is measured against a purpose you may not have been shown.
It also asks for care in whatever you make: excellence in work is an echo of the attribute. See also Al-Khaliq and Al-Musawwir.
Al-Bari' in the Quran
The verse below contains this name. Each reference is checked against the Arabic text of the Quran before it is published, so Al-Bari' really is in the verse it is cited from.
هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَٰلِقُ ٱلْبَارِئُ ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, and the Former. To Him belong the Best Names. Whatever there is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.
Surah Al-Hashr 59:24Read the full surah →
How reliable is the list of ninety-nine?
That Allah has ninety-nine names is established in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. The specific enumeration — this list of ninety-nine — comes from a narration in Jami' at-Tirmidhi that at-Tirmidhi himself called gharib, and which many hadith scholars grade weak; several held that a narrator compiled the names by searching the Quran and Sunnah. Classical scholars including al-Khattabi, Ibn Hazm, al-Qurtubi and al-Ghazali compiled lists of their own that differ from it. None of this touches the names themselves, every one of which is established elsewhere; it means the count of exactly these ninety-nine is a scholarly arrangement rather than a revealed roster, and Allah's names are not limited to them.
Questions about Al-Bari'
Al-Bari' (الْبَارِئُ) means "The Originator". Like every one of the ninety-nine names, it describes an attribute of Allah rather than serving as a label — the names are how the Quran teaches who Allah is.
Yes. This page cites 1 verse containing Al-Bari', each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Bari'" — and ask for what that attribute gives. The Quran instructs it directly: "To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them" (7:180).
It is number 12 in the well-known list. The order comes from the narration of at-Tirmidhi and is a scholarly arrangement, so numbering can differ slightly between printed lists — the names themselves do not.