Al-Wasi'
Al-Wasi is the All-Encompassing — whose knowledge, mercy and bounty are wide enough that nothing falls outside them.
Name 45 of 99
الْوَاسِعُ
Al-Wasi'
The All-Encompassing
- In Arabic
- الْوَاسِعُ
- Transliteration
- Al-Wasi'
- Position in the list
- Name 45 of 99
Al-Wasi' — The All-Encompassing
What the name means
Sa'ah in Arabic is breadth and capacity. The name is never abstract in the Quran: it is attached to what is wide — wide in mercy, wide in provision, wide in knowledge — so the breadth always has an object.
It appears where the Quran removes a limit people had assumed: wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah; indeed Allah is Wasi, Alim.
Living by this name
It corrects a small view of forgiveness or of provision. Allah promises to enrich from His breadth, and the Quran ties spending to that promise rather than to your balance.
Its response is to ask without rationing the request. See also Al-Ghaniyy and Al-Karim.
Al-Wasi' in the Quran
The 3 verses below contain this name. Every reference is checked against the Arabic text of the Quran before it is published, so Al-Wasi' really is in each verse it is cited from.
وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْمَشْرِقُ وَٱلْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا۟ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌۭ
And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:115Read the full surah →مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنۢبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِى كُلِّ سُنۢبُلَةٍۢ مِّا۟ئَةُ حَبَّةٍۢ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُضَٰعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:261Read the full surah →ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ يَعِدُكُمُ ٱلْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِٱلْفَحْشَآءِ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةًۭ مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلًۭا ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌۭ
Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:268Read the full surah →
How reliable is the list of ninety-nine?
That Allah has ninety-nine names is established in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, and both are agreed upon. The specific enumeration — this list of ninety-nine — comes from a narration in Jami' at-Tirmidhi that at-Tirmidhi himself called gharib, and which many hadith scholars grade weak; several held that a narrator compiled the names by searching the Quran and Sunnah. Classical scholars including al-Khattabi, Ibn Hazm, al-Qurtubi and al-Ghazali compiled lists of their own that differ from it. None of this touches the names themselves, every one of which is established elsewhere; it means the count of exactly these ninety-nine is a scholarly arrangement rather than a revealed roster, and Allah's names are not limited to them.
Questions about Al-Wasi'
Al-Wasi' (الْوَاسِعُ) means "The All-Encompassing". Like every one of the ninety-nine names, it describes an attribute of Allah rather than serving as a label — the names are how the Quran teaches who Allah is.
Yes. This page cites 3 verses containing Al-Wasi', each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Wasi'" — and ask for what that attribute gives. The Quran instructs it directly: "To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them" (7:180).
It is number 45 in the well-known list. The order comes from the narration of at-Tirmidhi and is a scholarly arrangement, so numbering can differ slightly between printed lists — the names themselves do not.