Ar-Rafi'

The root. Ar-Rafi comes from r-f-ʿ, the root behind rafʿ, raising or lifting, one of the more common roots in the Quran, describing everything from raising a physical structure to raising someone's rank or honor. Across its uses the root keeps a single consistent direction — upward movement, elevation from a lower state to a higher one — whether the thing being raised is a building, a person's standing, or, in one well-known account, a prophet raised bodily to Allah.

What it means here. Ar-Rafi is understood as the one who raises — in rank, in honor, in nearness — elevating whom He wills by a measure that belongs to Him alone, not to wealth, lineage, or worldly standing. It is paired with its direct opposite, Al-Khafid, the Abaser: together the two names describe a single control over rank exercised in both directions, raising some and lowering others by the same measure.

Where it is met. The exact form Ar-Rafi does not appear as a title in the Quran, but a close relative of it does: Surah Ghafir names Allah as Rafīʿ ad-darajāt, Raiser of ranks, in a verse describing Him as possessor of the Throne. The root itself is one of the more frequent in the Quran, recurring across dozens of surahs in its verb form.