Al-Karim — The Bountiful One
الْكَرِيمُ
Name 42 of the ninety-nine. The Generous One, The Gracious
Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ is Al-Kareem (in Arabic: ٱلْكَرِيمُ) meaning the one who is the most generous, bountiful and esteemed.
The root
From the root kaf-ra-mim (ك ر م), which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to be noble, grand, high minded.
Reflection
A believer benefits from knowing that Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ is Al-Kareem. We recognize that our Lord is generous, bountiful, and kind. We can try our best to mimic some of the ways Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ has been generous with us. For example, to find joy in giving. We may know someone or may have felt this way before, but when they give, they do so reluctantly.
There's an art to giving that needs to be mastered. Imagine a scenario where you're getting a free shoe shine at the mall. You look down at the shoe and see the young boy just gave you one of the all-time greatest shines. And so now you decide to tip him. 00 bill. Which do you give? 00 for a 5 minutes shine. As a personal rule, if two amounts cross your mind, go for the higher amount.
Why? It will make all the difference in the world. 00, you start feeling bad. Every time you put on the shoes and recognize the shine, you'll say to yourself, I must be cheap. You don't want to go through the whole day with that on your mind. Another way to try and to be generous is if you know someone who is in need, offer a helping hand and save them the dignity of asking.
If you know of their financial situation, throw a lifeline before the storm ravages through. Try and offer help before the pain necessitates them to seek help. We can also try to perfect our inner qualities to gain a reputation on earth as being noble. This includes working on perfecting attributes of graciousness, kindness, courage, intelligence, compassion, and communication.
These are all skills that can be acquired but require a commitment to a lifelong journey of being a student studying, searching, and analyzing. As Imam al-Ghazali points out, it is good to recognize that these qualities may characterize us. Yet, we remain deficient by comparison with the one who is the superlative form, absolutely generous, all-wise, the oft-forgiving.
Where it appears
[1] Sahih (Al-Albani) Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 896,[2] Hadith #16, 40 Hadith Qudsi (As it was related in Sahih al-Bukhari 6491 and Sahih Muslim 131a),[3] Sahih (Al-Albani) Sunan Abi Dawud 1488