al-Quddūs

The Utterly Pure and Holy; beyond every flaw we can imagine

Begin the series ↓

Recited as it sounds in the Qur'an, 59:23.

Heard together with: al-Malik al-Quddūs (59:23; 62:1)

Start with what we know

Then take away everything it needs. What is left is not a bigger version of us. It is the Name.

Episode 1

In us

The purest thing we make is silicon for computer chips: 99.9999999% pure, “nine nines”. Even that has a flaw in every sample. We approach purity; we never reach it.

Episode 2

In nature

No two snowflakes are alike, because each is shaped, and marked, by its own path through the cloud. Beautiful, and never flawless.

Episode 3

At our best

When the Planck telescope mapped the oldest light in the universe, the headline was “an almost perfect Universe” (ESA, 2013). Notice the word almost. Physics even says absolute zero, perfect stillness, can never quite be reached.

Episode 4

The Break

Take away every flaw, every comparison, even our best idea of what perfect means. al-Quddūs is not the purest thing, but the One no flaw has ever touched, including our picture of Him. That is why Muslims refuse to picture God.

Read: Q 59:23; 62:1

From the tradition: al-Ghazālī: al-Quddūs transcends whatever the senses, imagination or even our ideas of perfection grasp. Muslim 487: in bowing, 'subbūḥun quddūs'. Isaiah 6:3 'Holy, holy, holy'

On screen

We can reach 'nine nines' of purity, never ten. al-Quddūs is not the last nine; He is outside the scale.

Where it shows up

In scripture: Q 59:23; 62:1; 2:30. Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8
The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture: Strong. Isaiah 6:3 'Holy, holy, holy! GOD of Hosts'; Revelation 4:8 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty'; shared root q-d-sh; Jerusalem is al-Quds (avoid geopolitics, §6)
In the universe: ESA Planck, 'Planck reveals an almost perfect Universe' (esa.int, 21 Mar 2013)
In nature: Frozen Planet II (BBC, 2022), iPlayer: snow and ice sequences
In people: Cleanroom technicians (ISO class 1) gowning up to keep one speck off a chip
In science: Chemistry: no substance is 100% pure; thermodynamics: absolute zero unreachable (third law)