What is the meaning of Allah's name "The First" (Al-Awwal), and what are its implications for faith and worship?

The name of Allah, "The First" (Al-Awwal), means He before Whom there was nothing, and He is the First without a beginning. It has been mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. In the noble prophetic Hadith: "You are The First, so there is nothing before You." Its meaning is that there is no beginning to His existence. As for worshipping Allah with this name, it entails disengaging from reliance on means and looking solely to Allah's grace and mercy, and that He is the One Who initiates beneficence, which instills a special kind of poverty (of self) and a special servitude to Allah.