Abad

Everlastingness, being without end; the counterpart of azal, being without beginning.

What it means

Muslim theologians use the pair for God’s attributes of eternity: azal, no beginning, and abad, no end. The Quran says of Him, “He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden” (57:3), and “everything will perish except His face” (28:88).

What the sources say

The pair belongs to the later vocabulary of theology (kalam). It states in technical terms what the verses say plainly: that God is not a created being, and does not depend on time.