الحسيب
al-Ḥasīb
Topic
A divine name meaning He Who reckons human deeds and renders judgment on them.
What it means
Al-Ḥasīb is one of the ninety-nine names of God. It means the One Who takes account. The Quran says: “God is ever a Reckoner over all things” (4:86), and “God suffices as a Reckoner” (33:39). It also means the One Who is sufficient, since the same root gives ḥasb, enough, as in ḥasbunā Allāh, “God is enough for us”. The two meanings fit together in the believer’s trust in God.
In the sense Faruqi gives, God keeps exact account of every deed and will judge it. “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it” (99:7–8). The name is both a warning and a comfort. Nothing is lost from the record of the righteous, and no one is wronged in the judgment. People are named ʿAbd al-Ḥasīb.
Often misunderstood as
Taken to describe a harsh bookkeeper; the name also means the One Who is sufficient for His servants.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 29, listed as AL ḤASĪB. The definition is restated here.