Oneness and permanence
Al-Awwal ٱلْأَوَّل
The First: nothing preceded Him.
7 āyāt · 7 sūrahs
Why Allah uses this name
The Prophet ﷺ explained the four names of 57:3 himself, so the is prophetic rather than inferred.
Take this with you
Whatever you are afraid of came after Him and will end before Him.
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'O Allah, You are the First, so there is nothing before You; and the Last, so there is nothing after You; the Manifest, so there is nothing above You; the Hidden, so there is nothing beyond You.'
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2713
Where it appears in the Qur'an
Counted from the muṣḥaf text as served by the Quran.com API. A few occurrences describe someone other than Allah; read the āyah in place to see which.
6. Sūrat Al-Anʿām الأنعام
1 āyah
āyah 163
7. Sūrat Al-Aʿrāf الأعراف
1 āyah
āyah 143
26. Sūrat Ash-Shuʿarāʾ الشعراء
1 āyah
āyah 51
39. Sūrat Az-Zumar الزمر
1 āyah
āyah 12
43. Sūrat Az-Zukhruf الزخرف
1 āyah
āyah 81
50. Sūrat Qāf ق
1 āyah
āyah 15
57. Sūrat Al-Ḥadīd الحديد
1 āyah
āyah 3
Names close to this one
Allāh ٱللَّٰه
The proper name of the Divine Being: the One truly worshipped, to whom every other name returns as a description.
Al-Ḥaqq ٱلْحَقّ
The Truth: the One whose being and whose word are real, beside whom everything called upon is false.
Al-Ḥayy ٱلْحَىّ
The Ever-Living: life that never began and never ends, the ground of every other life.
Al-Qayyūm ٱلْقَيُّوم
The Sustainer of all existence: self-subsisting, and the One by whom everything else subsists.
Al-Wājid ٱلْوَاجِد
The Finder who lacks nothing: everything He wills is present to Him, and nothing escapes Him.
Al-Wāḥid ٱلْوَٰحِد
The One: single in His essence, attributes and right to be worshipped.
Al-Aḥad ٱلْأَحَد
The Unique One who has no second of any kind — not in essence, not in attribute.
Aṣ-Ṣamad ٱلصَّمَد
The Eternal Refuge: the One everything turns to in need, who needs nothing Himself.