The Self-Subsisting, The One who remains and does not end.

The Alive, The One attributed with a life that is unlike our life and is not that of a combination of soul, flesh or blood.

Al-Hayy ul-Qayyoom - “The Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists", has confirmed two of His great names.

Al-Hayy - The Ever-Living is He who has a continuous life with no beginning or end. Allah is ascribed with a life that is self-sustaining. It has no external source, unlike the lives of creatures that have been granted to them by the Creator. As He was, together with His attributes, before all else, so shall He remain throughout endless time.

Al-Qayyoom - The One Who sustains and protects all that exists. It is He who sustains the lives of creation and manages all the conditions of the universe. He oversees everything: provides for it, preserves it, watches over it, manages it in the way and for the purpose that He pleases.

Regarding [Allaah’s] Saying: { القَيُّوم }: al-Qayyoum , its origin is the word al-qiyaam, and the measure of { القَيُّوم } is fayy’ool and it is a form of intensiveness. The name al-Qayyoum means the One Who is established on His Own, Self-subsisting, by Whom all things subsist. Allaah, the Most High, said:

Is He (Allaah) Who takes charge (guards, maintains, provides, etc.) of every person and know all that he has earned (like any other deities who know nothing)? [ Soorat Ar-Ra’d (13:33)].

Allaah is established on His Own (qaa’im bi-nafsihi ) as He, the Most High, says:

And Allaah is the Rich (Free of all wants), worthy of all praise. [Soorat At-Taghaabun (64:6)].

So, Allaah is absolutely free of any need from all creation. He is Self-subsisting. He needs not food nor drink, for He is the One Who feeds but is not fed. He needs not a supporter, nor a helper, nor a deputy, nor an advisor. He is established in perfection by Himself.