Al-Kabir
Al-Kabir is the Most Great — greater than everything, so that beside Him nothing retains its scale.
Name 37 of 99
الْكَبِيرُ
Al-Kabir
The Most Great
- In Arabic
- الْكَبِيرُ
- Transliteration
- Al-Kabir
- Position in the list
- Name 37 of 99
Al-Kabir — The Most Great
What the name means
Kibriya is grandeur of rank. The Quran uses this name where it contrasts Allah with what people worship or fear instead: that is because Allah is the Truth, and what they call upon besides Him is falsehood, and Allah is al-Ali, al-Kabir.
The pairing with al-Ali is consistent, and the argument in each place is the same: size everything else correctly by seeing Him first.
Living by this name
It is the meaning packed into the takbir. Saying Allahu akbar at the start of every prayer is a declaration that whatever you left outside the prayer is smaller than what you have entered.
Its response is to stop being intimidated by what is, in fact, small. See also Al-Ali and Al-Mutakabbir.
Al-Kabir in the Quran
The 4 verses below contain this name. Every reference is checked against the Arabic text of the Quran before it is published, so Al-Kabir really is in each verse it is cited from.
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ هُوَ ٱلْبَٰطِلُ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْكَبِيرُ
So will it be, because Allah is the Reality, and what they invoke besides Him is nullity, and because Allah is the All-exalted, the All-great.
Surah Al-Hajj 22:62Read the full surah →ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ ٱلْبَٰطِلُ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْكَبِيرُ
That is because Allah is the Reality, and whatever they invoke besides Him is nullity, and because Allah is the All-exalted, the All-great.
Surah Luqman 31:30Read the full surah →وَلَا تَنفَعُ ٱلشَّفَٰعَةُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُۥ ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا فُزِّعَ عَن قُلُوبِهِمْ قَالُوا۟ مَاذَا قَالَ رَبُّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْكَبِيرُ
Intercession is of no avail with Him, except for those whom He permits. When fear is lifted from their hearts, they say, ‘What did your Lord say?’ They say, ‘The truth, and He is the All-exalted, the All-great.’
Surah Saba 34:23Read the full surah →ذَٰلِكُم بِأَنَّهُۥٓ إِذَا دُعِىَ ٱللَّهُ وَحْدَهُۥ كَفَرْتُمْ ۖ وَإِن يُشْرَكْ بِهِۦ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ ۚ فَٱلْحُكْمُ لِلَّهِ ٱلْعَلِىِّ ٱلْكَبِيرِ
[They will be told,] ‘This [plight of yours] is because, when Allah was invoked alone, you would disbelieve, but if partners were ascribed to Him you would believe. So the judgment belongs to Allah, the All-exalted, the All-great.’
Surah Ghafir 40:12Read 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-Kabir
Al-Kabir (الْكَبِيرُ) means "The Most Great". 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 4 verses containing Al-Kabir, each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Kabir" — 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 37 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.