Al-'Azīm (The Magnificent) ( العظيم )

فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ ۝

"So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Great" (Quran, 56:96).

"Al-`Azeem" is a superlative derived from the noun `izam, greatness, magnanimity, dignity, honor, esteem, pride...

The Absolute Azeem is the One whose greatness cannot be grasped by vision; it is beyond all limits, so much so that no human intellect can ever absorb it. Allah has said, "He is the Most High, the Great" (Quran, 2:255).

The most prominent person in a town is called its greatest. This is the meaning of what the unbelievers say as the Holy Quran 

quotes

 them: "... to a man great in both towns..." (Quran, 43:31).
Allah has said, "... and the great Quran" (Quran, 15:87).

When the Messenger of Allah wrote a letter to Heraclius (which will be discussed later in this book Insha-Allah), he addressed him as "the azeem man of Rome," that is, the greatest dignitary in Rome. Heraclius, who ruled from 610 - 641 A.D., was a Byzantine emperor, ruler of the Eastern Roman empire. Was involved in many wars with the Persians from 634 - 642 A.D. He did not accept Islam; his armies were eventually conquered by Islamic troops, so he lost Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia (upper Iraq) as well as Egypt, one after the other.

If you consider the greatness of al-Az`eem, you will come to know that anyone besides Him is insignificant. The human being, no matter how knowledgeable, is limited in the scope and content of his knowledge. How can you compare such a limited amount of knowledge with that of the Almighty?

An example of His might exist in 31:28: "Neither your creation nor your raising (bai`th, the reunion between the soul and the recreated body) is only like (that of) a single soul" (Quran, 31:28).
To the Almighty, the creation of the entire cosmos is as easy as the creation of one single soul: "Our word for a thing when we intend it is only to say to it: Be, and it is" (Quran, 16:40).

Allah has required us to revere His signs; He says, "That (shall be so), and whoever respects the signs of Allah, it surely is (the sign) of the piety of the hearts" (Quran, 22:32).
One who highly regards the signs of Allah, respects religious rites, holds in high esteemanything related to Allah, is surely held in high esteem by both Allah and His servants.

The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, has conveyed the following glad tidings: "One who learns then becomes fully knowledgeable then acts upon what he has learned is called great in thekingdom of the heavens."

Ibn `Abbas quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "If someone enters a room to visit a sick person on the brink of death and he repeats seven times the saying of: `I plead to Allah the Great, Lord of the Great Throne, to heal you,' that sick person will be healed by the Will of Allah."