The Lifting

الرَّافِعُ

Ar-Rāfi‘ — The Exalter

يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ ۚ

O ye who believe! when it is said unto you, Make room! in assemblies, then make room; Allah will make way for you (hereafter). And when it is said, Come up higher! go up higher; Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks. Allah is Informed of what ye do

Surah Al-Mujādalah (58:11)

النية

Today, I will lift someone else — with a word of encouragement, a genuine compliment, or quiet recognition.

تأمّل

Ar-Rāfi‘ is The Exalter — the One who raises. He raises the humble, the overlooked, the forgotten. He raises stations that the world has no mechanism to measure. The person with the quietest voice in the room may have the highest station with Ar-Rāfi‘. Worldly rank and divine rank operate on different scales entirely.

في هذه الآية

By degrees — not all at once, and not uniformly. The raising is graduated, personal, and according to a wisdom you may not see yet.

دعاء

The only station that matters eternally is the one measured by Ar-Rāfi‘.

حديث

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever humbles himself for the sake of Allah, Allah will raise him.”

— Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2588