Ar-Raqib — The Watchful
Ar-Raqib is the One who watches over everything constantly, from whom no act or thought is hidden. His watching is not surveillance for the sake of catching people out but the attentiveness of the One who preserves and will judge. Surah An-Nisa opens by commanding taqwa of the Lord who created you and closes the ayah with 'indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer' (4:1). Classical scholars link it to the awareness that reforms private conduct, since a person alone is still seen.
Updated July 16, 2026
Name 43 of 99
الرَّقِيبُ
Ar-Raqib
The Watchful
Where Ar-Raqib appears in the Quran
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفۡسٖ وَٰحِدَةٖ وَخَلَقَ مِنۡهَا زَوۡجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنۡهُمَا رِجَالٗا كَثِيرٗا وَنِسَآءٗۚ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِي تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلۡأَرۡحَامَۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ رَقِيبٗا
O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim (your rights) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bare you). Lo! Allah hath been a watcher over you
Arabic text: Tanzil Uthmani (public domain). English translation: Marmaduke Pickthall, “The Meaning of the Glorious Koran” (1930) — public domain.
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