What Is the Relationship Between the Hidden Name and the Greatest Name?

On careful reflection and investigation, one may infer that the rank of the “Name Kept in Reserve” is higher than that of the “Greatest Name.” Indeed, the “Name Kept in Reserve” is higher even than the “Chosen Name.”

(اللَّهُم‏) وَ أَسْأَلُكَ‏ بِاسْمِكَ الْمَكْتُوبِ الْمَكْنُونِ الْأَعَزِّ الْأَكْرَمِ‏ الْأَجَلِّ الْأَكْبَرِ الْأَعْظَمِ الَّذِي تُحِبُّهُ وَ تَرْضَى عَمَّنْ دَعَاكَ بِهِ وَ تُجِيبُ دَعْوَتَهُ وَ لَا تَحْرِمُ سَائِلَكَ بِهِ بِذَلِكَ الِاسْمِ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ طَيِّبٌ مُبَارَكٌ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَ الْإِنْجِيلِ وَ الزَّبُورِ وَ الْفُرْقَانِ وَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ فِي اللَّوْحِ الْمَحْفُوظِ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِاسْمِكَ الْعَظِيمِ الَّذِي أَصْغَرُ حَرْفٍ مِنْهُ أَعْظَمُ مِنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ الْأَرَضِينَ وَ الْجِبَالِ وَ كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ خَلَقْتَهُ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ اصْطَفَيْتَهُ مِنْ عِلْمِكَ لِنَفْسِكَ وَ اسْتَأْثَرْتَ‏ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الْغَيْبِ عِنْدَكَ
*Misbāḥ al-mutahajjid wa-silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid*, vol. 1, p. 295

(O God,) I ask You by the right of Your name—the name inscribed [in the Preserved Tablet], hidden and kept in safekeeping, most noble and most exalted, loftiest, greatest and mightiest [of names]. Whoever calls upon You by it, You love and are pleased with; You answer their prayer, and You do not turn away anyone who calls upon You by it in their need.

I ask You by the right of that name, and by the right of every name that is Yours—a pure and blessed name in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms and the Furqan—and by the right of every name of Yours inscribed in the Preserved Tablet.

I ask You by the right of Your mighty name, of which the smallest letter is greater and mightier than the heavens, the earths, the mountains and all that You have created.

And I ask You by the right of every name that You chose for Yourself from among Your knowledge and reserved exclusively for Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen (استأثرتَ).

Among the characteristics of the “Name Kept in Reserve” are the following:

**Root and structure:** It derives from the root “ء-ث-ر,” associated with a share, a remainder and bounty. *Istaʾthara*, the form X verb, means to claim or take something exclusively for oneself. The word conveys exclusivity, particular distinction, and the keeping of something for oneself without sharing it with others.

**Practical meaning:** It signifies exclusivity in its most positive sense: something so precious and unique that it remains with the Divine Essence alone, inaccessible to anyone else.

The full reality and innermost nature of these names are manifest to none but God Himself; they belong to the realm of the “absolute unseen.” Servants know only the effects and manifestations of these names, while their essential reality belongs to God alone.