“Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one. Whoever learns them will enter Paradise.” (Hadīth of the Prophet ﷺ)
Traditionally it is said in Islam that God has ninety-nine Names. These Names may vary slightly in different established lists, and some lists contain more than ninety-nine, but each of them is derived from the many terms used to describe Him in the Quran and Hadith. Therefore, when invoking these Names we are inviting into our being the very Names and attributes which He has enumerated for Himself.
In a sense, the Names can be viewed as aspects of the Face that God shows to us, and these encompass all of creation. Just as light from one source passing through a prism reveals numerous colours contained with the light, the fact that God has many Names does not compromise His Oneness; rather, they reveal qualities contained within His One Essence. The Names are called the “most beautiful,” for each carries a meaning of the perfection, mercy, glory, grandeur, or eternity particular to it, and each is like a window opening onto an aspect of the Divine Nature. By contemplating these meanings our minds, which are limited, can perceive something of that Infinite Nature.