Ar-Raqib
Ar-Raqib is the Ever-Watchful — the One whose observation never lapses and from whom nothing is out of view.
Name 43 of 99
الرَّقِيبُ
Ar-Raqib
The Ever-Watchful
- In Arabic
- الرَّقِيبُ
- Transliteration
- Ar-Raqib
- Position in the list
- Name 43 of 99
Ar-Raqib — The Ever-Watchful
What the name means
A raqib in Arabic is a sentry posted to watch. The name says Allah's watch is permanent and total — not surveillance that catches, but presence that never leaves.
The Quran opens Surah an-Nisa with it, immediately after commanding awareness of Allah and of family ties: indeed Allah is ever, over you, Raqib.
Living by this name
Isa ﷺ is quoted in the Quran using it about his own community: I was a witness over them while I was among them, but when You took me, You were the Raqib over them. The watching does not depend on any human being remaining.
Its response is muraqabah — worship as though watched, because you are. See also Al-Basir and Ash-Shahid.
Ar-Raqib 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 Ar-Raqib really is in each verse it is cited from.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍۢ وَٰحِدَةٍۢ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًۭا كَثِيرًۭا وَنِسَآءًۭ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْحَامَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًۭا
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
Surah An-Nisa 4:1Read the full surah →مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلَّا مَآ أَمَرْتَنِى بِهِۦٓ أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ رَبِّى وَرَبَّكُمْ ۚ وَكُنتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًۭا مَّا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ ۖ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِى كُنتَ أَنتَ ٱلرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنتَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ شَهِيدٌ
I said not to them except what You commanded me - to worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.
Surah Al-Maidah 5:117Read the full surah →لَّا يَحِلُّ لَكَ ٱلنِّسَآءُ مِنۢ بَعْدُ وَلَآ أَن تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَٰجٍۢ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ رَّقِيبًۭا
Not lawful to you, [O Muhammad], are [any additional] women after [this], nor [is it] for you to exchange them for [other] wives, even if their beauty were to please you, except what your right hand possesses. And ever is Allah, over all things, an Observer.
Surah Al-Ahzab 33:52Read 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 Ar-Raqib
Ar-Raqib (الرَّقِيبُ) means "The Ever-Watchful". 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 Ar-Raqib, each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Raqib" — 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 43 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.