Allah: An Explanation of the Divine Names and Attributes
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Description
This slim work by Ahmad Ibn Ajiba takes up one of the central subjects in Islamic belief: the divine names and attributes of Allah. At just 73 pages, it is not meant to overwhelm but to orient — a concise explanation intended for the reader who wants to begin, or deepen, their grounding in this foundational area of `aqidah.
The translation is the work of Abdul Aziz Suraqah, who renders Ibn Ajiba's explanation into accessible English without losing its careful, traditional bearing. This paperback edition was published by Al-Madina Institute in 2015, and its brevity makes it a natural companion for study circles or personal reading alongside longer works on the subject.
For readers building a library on Allah's names and attributes, this book earns its place not through length but through focus — a short, serious treatment from a scholar within the tradition, suited to those who want the substance without the sprawl.
About the Contributor(s)
About the author
Ahmad ibn Ajiba: A Moroccan scholar, Sufi, and poet, Ahmad ibn Ajiba (1160-1224 AH / 1747-1809 CE) was born in the village of Khamis near Tetouan into a sharifian family of the Anjra tribe along Morocco's Mediterranean coast. A precocious student, he memorized the Qurʾan young and went on to study Arabic grammar, recitation, exegesis, and the religious sciences, first under Muhammad al-Susi al-Samlali and later in Fez under such masters as al-Tawudi ibn Suda. Maliki in law and Ashʿari in creed, he was above all a teacher of the inward sciences, entering the Shadhili-Darqawi order in 1208 AH / 1793 CE through the renewer Mawlay al-Arabi al-Darqawi and serving as a guide in the northern Jbala. His writings, more than thirty in number, range across Qurʾanic exegesis, Sufism, language, and poetry. He is best remembered for al-Bahr al-Madid (The Immense Ocean), a complete Qurʾanic tafsir that weaves together outward legal meaning and inward spiritual allusion, and for Iqaz al-himam, his much-loved commentary on the Hikam of Ibn ʿAtaʾ Allah al-Iskandari. His Miʿraj al-tashawwuf offers a lexicon of Sufi terms, and his autobiography, the Fahrasa, gives a vivid portrait of scholarly life in Tetouan. He died of the plague there in 1224 AH / 1809 CE.
About the translator
Abdul Aziz Suraqah: Abdul Aziz Suraqah is an American Muslim translator, teacher, and author based in Toronto, Canada. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he embraced Islam as a teenager after reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which sparked an enduring engagement with Islamic learning. He pursued traditional Islamic education in Yemen at Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyya, in Mauritania at the mahdara of Umm al-Qura under the tutelage of Shaykh Muhammad Salim Ould 'Addud, and in Morocco, where he was among the first Western students admitted full-time to the traditional Qur'an school in the remote village of Sidi Ghiyyath. His studies focused on theology, legal theory, Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and literature. Since 1998, he has taught Arabic and Islamic studies, and from 2005 he has dedicated himself to full-time translation from Arabic into English, producing over fifty published and unpublished works. His translations span classical texts in Sufism, theology, and prophetic devotion, including 'Realities of Sufism' (Haqaiq an al-Tasawwuf by Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Isa), 'The Sanusi Creed', and numerous works related to the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He currently teaches Arabic and Islamic studies at Dar al-Ma'rifah and Risalah Foundation in Toronto, where he lives with his family.
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