We all have days when we feel like our hearts are heavy, when we feel not so great internally, and when we feel like we do not know what to do to help ourselves feel better. This was one of those days.

I remember how heavy my heart felt the morning of that day. I remember sitting there on my couch with my difficult emotions, letting myself just feel the weight of my heavy heart and thinking how am I supposed to get on with my day feeling like this. I remember the tears falling down my face as I sat there reflecting on my feelings and what I can do to get myself to a better space emotionally. I told myself that sitting with the pain was what I needed to do in that moment, so that I can see what it has to offer me.

A few minutes passed and my heart was still heavy. Nothing changed. My heart still felt constricted. So I decided to make dua and I prayed for the opposite: for my heart to not be constricted. I asked God to flip my heart. I wanted my heart to be expanded, to feel lighter, to be more open so that I can feel more nourished to get on with my day.

And then I remembered, one of God’s name is “Al-Basit,” The Expander!

God is Al-Basit, the One who expands and increases all abundance. He is Al Basit, the Unfolder, the Expander, and the Releaser.

When we think of this name though, we often think of God increasing our material abundance, unfolding situations or matters in our lives, or releasing us from external difficulties. But we rarely think of how God can be Al-Basit for us on an internal level!

God is also Al-Basit with our hearts, not just with the matters and tests in our lives. God can expand our heart and increase our abundance on an internal level. It is God who fills the heart, beautifies it, increases its abundance and its capacity to feel, be nourished, and be expanded.

So I placed my hand over my heart and I kept repeating this name and reflecting on how God can be Al-Basit with my heart in that moment, how he can expand this constricted heart of mine, release its heaviness, and unfold what my heart needed to learn from my difficult emotions.

And within a short while of repeating this name and letting my heart feel what my tongue was saying, by God’s mercy and kindness, I began to feel lighter. My heart felt more open! I felt a complete shift from how I felt before I began to say “Al-Basit.” And I even gained a better perspective on what was bothering me!

And yes, this happened within a short while of just sitting with my emotions and using my emotions to access the name of God that I can be nourished through in those moments.

I have not only witnessed the power of this in my own life but in the lives of my students and individuals I have worked with.

This is the power of God’s names! This is why they are there and why God teaches us about who He is throughout the Qur’an. He wants us to be aware and connected to just how close He is to us and to our hearts.

By learning about who He is, we recognize how sufficient God is for us, how He holds all that we need, how He is the Source of all that we have and all that we are praying for.

By learning and connecting to His names, we begin to learn how to seek our nourishment through Him and realize that He can provide for us not just on an external level but on an internal one as well!

I wanted to share this experience with you to remind myself and you of the power of God’s names, to encourage you to implement them into your lives, and to remember that your heart ALWAYS needs to be connected to its Source in order to receive its nourishment!

That was what I needed to be reminded of that day and I pray God helps me and you to always take our hearts to Him for it is by His grace and mercy that our hearts can receive any abundance.

May God help us remember Him through every situation, difficulty, internal and external agitation, and through every experience we go through!

“The most beautiful names belong to God: so call on Him by them;” Qur’an 7:180

[By: Dr. Marwa Assar]