الباقي
al-Bāqī
Topic
A divine name meaning He who exists forever and remains after all else has passed away.
What it means
Al-Bāqī means the Everlasting. It is a name of God and says that He alone does not end. Everything else, including every created thing, will pass away, and He will remain. Faruqi glosses it as the one who survives after all else has perished. The Quran says that everything on earth will perish, and the face of your Lord will remain, full of majesty and honour (55:26-27). Another verse says that all things perish except His face (28:88). The name reminds believers that the world is temporary and that their dependence rests on the One who is permanent.
Often misunderstood as
That the name means only long life, when it says that God’s existence has no end and is not like that of created things.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 25, listed as AL BĀQĪ. The definition is restated here.