الحكيم
al-Ḥakīm
Topic
A divine name meaning He Whose words and deeds constitute ḥikma, wisdom.
What it means
Al-Ḥakīm is one of the ninety-nine names of God and one of the most frequent in the Quran. It often follows al-ʿAzīz: “You are the Almighty, the All-Wise” (2:129). The Book itself is called by it: “Yā Sīn. By the wise Quran” (36:1–2). It describes a Being whose every command and act has a purpose, even where people cannot see it.
The name comes from the root of ḥikma, which means wisdom, and also ḥukm, judgment. Faruqi says the divine words and deeds constitute ḥikma. For the believer, this is a ground for trust in events that seem hard. A verse says: “You may dislike something that is good for you” (2:216). People are named ʿAbd al-Ḥakīm, “servant of the All-Wise”.
Often misunderstood as
Rendered “the Wise” as human cleverness; the name speaks of a wisdom that is the standard of all wisdom.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 30, listed as AL ḤAKĪM. The definition is restated here.