The Highest and Most Sublime One.
Allah calls Himself Al-‘Aliy— The Most High, The Exalted — on eight occasions in the Quran. He’s the One Whose loftiness is both in His essence and in His attributes. Al-‘Aliy is above any imperfections, above the ‘Arsh (throne). Our minds are at a loss regarding His greatness and our intellect is incapable of conceiving His perfection!
The Most High, the One Above Everyone and Everything
Aliy comes from the root ayn-laam-waaw, which points to four main meanings. The first is to be high, lofty, and exalted and to ascend. The second main meaning is to overcome and overwhelm and the third to advance and exceed. The fourth main meaning is to be eminent.
This root appears 70 times in the Quran in fourteen derived forms. Examples of these forms are ta’aalaa (exalted is He), ta’aalaw (come), ista’laa (overcome), ‘uluwwan (haughtiness), and ‘illiyeen.
“ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ ٱلْبَـٰطِلُ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْكَبِيرُ““That is because Allah ˹alone˺ is the Truth and what they invoke besides Him is falsehood, and ˹because˺ Allah ˹alone˺ is the Most High, All-Great“
Qur’an 31:30
“ذَٰلِكُم بِأَنَّهُۥٓ إِذَا دُعِىَ ٱللَّهُ وَحْدَهُۥ كَفَرْتُمْ ۖ وَإِن يُشْرَكْ بِهِۦ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ ۚ فَٱلْحُكْمُ لِلَّهِ ٱلْعَلِىِّ ٱلْكَبِيرِ “
˹They will be told,˺ “˹No!˺ This is because when Allah alone was invoked, you ˹staunchly˺ disbelieved. But when others were associated with Him ˹in worship˺, you ˹readily˺ believed. So ˹Today˺ judgment belongs to Allah ˹alone˺—the Most High, All-Great.”
“عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْكَبِيرُ ٱلْمُتَعَالِ “
˹He is the˺ Knower of the seen and the unseen—the All-Great, Most Exalted.
(Quran, 13:9).
According to Al-Asma’ wal sifat, where a qudsi tradition is quoted, the Messenger of Allah heard during the Night of Isra (the night journey to Jerusalem) praised in the high heavens saying: Subhan al-`Aliyy al-A`la, Subnahu wa Ta`ala, that is, “Glory to the Highest, Glory to Him and Exaltation.” Iyas ibn Salmah has quoted his father saying that he had heard the Messenger of Allah starting every supplication by saying, “Subhana al-A`la al-Wahhab,” “Glory to the Most High, the ever-Giving
Linguistically, ‘uloow points to the attribute of loftiness, and a person is ‘alee when he is prominent. Al-‘Aliy, under whose control everything in existence is, is the Most High.