Subtleties and Allusions

The Most Comprehensive Expression of Praise

The praise of God the Glorious appears at the beginning of five chapters of the Qurʾān:

a) Sūrah al-Ḥamd: “All praise belongs to God, Lord of the worlds.” (1:2)

b) Sūrah al-An__ʿām: “All praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light...” (6:1)

c) Sūrah al-Kahf: “All praise belongs to God who sent down the Book upon His servant...” (18:1)

d) _Sūrah Saba_ʾ: “All praise belongs to God to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth...” (34:1)

e) Sūrah Fāṭir: “All praise belongs to God, originator of the heavens and the earth...” (35:1)

What appears at the beginning of Sūrah al-Ḥamd is the most comprehensive of them, because the word al-ʿālamīn includes all the worlds of creation (whether the heavens and earth or the world of the immaterial and the material) and the worlds of legislation and promulgation.(158)

The Inability of the Blessed to Fulfill the Right of Gratitude

The Blessing of Praising and Thanking the Most Holy Essence of God: The act of praising and thanking the Most Holy Essence of God is one of the greatest divine blessings bestowed upon the human being and, as expressed by Imām al-Sajjād (a.s.), it is success and salvation: “O He whose remembrance is an honor for those who remember, and O He whose thanks is success for the thankful.”(159) And those who are blessed are unable to adequately thank and praise for this success and blessing, because every praise requires another praise, and every thanks necessitates further thanks:

“... So how can I achieve thankfulness, when my thanks to You requires thanks? For whenever I say to You, ‘To You belongs praise!’, it becomes thereby incumbent upon me to say, ‘To You belongs praise!’.”(160)

Therefore, the thanks of the thankful one is itself a benefit from the blessing, not a fulfillment of the right.

For this reason, the Noble Qurʾān, in explaining the wisdom of Luqmān, states: Thanking God is a blessing that is bestowed upon the thankful one, just as the harm of disbelief only afflicts the disbelievers themselves: “And We had certainly given Luqmān wisdom [and said], ‘Be grateful to God.’ And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor]—then indeed, God is Free of need and Praiseworthy.” (31:12)

The phrase “then indeed, God is Free of need and Praiseworthy” at the end of the verse serves as a justification for both claims; neither the thanks of the thankful ones benefit God, nor does the disbelief of the disbelievers harm Him. This is because God is absolutely free of need and intrinsically praiseworthy. The One who is intrinsically praiseworthy is neither in need of the praise of the praiser, nor is He harmed by the disbelief of the disbeliever.

It is necessary to pay full attention to the point that since God is absolute existence and absolutely free of need from everything, He is even free of need from Himself. This is because if He were to need Himself and fulfill His need through His own effort, He would not be intrinsically free of need. For this reason, Imām al-Ḥusayn (a.s.) says to God in the Duʿāʾ ʿArafa: “My God... You are free in Your essence from any benefit reaching You from Yourself, so how could You not be free of need from me?”(161)

Reminder: The inability of one who is blessed to give thanks for blessings can be proven with another proof that will be discussed in the section on the exclusivity of praise (to God and in the narrated section.

The Distinction and Unity of Praise (ḥamd) and Glorification (tasbīḥ)

In previous discussions, it was mentioned that praise is not only in response to God being the Bestower of Blessings, but it also encompasses all His Names, Attributes, and existential and recorded Words, whether the effect and implication of those Attributes reach others or not. This point goes back to the fact that praise is not only in response to God’s Beauty (jamāl), but it also includes His Majesty (jalāl). Therefore, the Noble Qurʾān states: “Praise belongs to God, who has not taken a son and has had no partner in [His] dominion and has no [need of a] protector out of weakness; and glorify Him with [great] glorification.” (17:111) In other words, in addition to the perfection and beauty of God the Glorified being praiseworthy, His being sacred and transcendent is also deserving of praise.

Not only does praise (taḥmīd) have such a vast scope, but it also includes all instances of glorification (tasbīḥ), declaration of God’s oneness (tahlīl), and declaration of God’s greatness (takbīr). Thus, the glorification, declaration of oneness, and declaration of greatness of God the Glorified are all instances of praising and extolling Him. Just as, in contrast, praise, declaration of oneness, and declaration of greatness are all instances of glorifying the Most Holy Essence of God.

Clarification: While it is true that the words tasbīḥ, taḥmīd, tahlīl and takbīr have conceptual differences with one another, they all share a common external referent:

One of the evidences for this unity of instance is that the combination of these in the remembrances of prayer is known as the tasbīḥāt arbaʿa (the four glorifications—Subḥān Allāh, al-Ḥamdu lillāh, lā ilāha ill Allāh, Allāhu Akbar).

Another evidence is the conjunction of ḥamd (praise) and tasbīḥ (glorification) in the Noble Qurʾān: “And there is not a thing except that it glorifies [God] by His praise.” (17:44)

A third evidence is the narrations that have interpreted Allāhu akbar (God is greater) as tasbīḥ: It is narrated from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a.s.) that a man said in his presence: “Allāhu akbar”. So he (a.s.) said: “Greater than what thing?” The man replied: “Greater than everything.” Abū ʿAbdillāh (a.s.) said: “You have limited Him.” The man asked: “Then how should I say it?” He (a.s.) replied: “Allāhu akbar min an yūṣaf” (God is greater than to be described).(162)

Another point is that since the True Praised One (al-Maḥmūd al-Ḥaqīqī) is both the origin of perfection and grace, and transcendent above deficiency and fault, therefore if the title “Maḥmūd” (Praised) is mentioned in an absolute sense without any specific qualification, it can be interpreted in a comprehensive meaning. Hence, it may be inferred from the verse “And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.” (17:79) that through night vigil (tahajjud) and night prayer, the human being not only becomes an intermediary of grace, with his goodness reaching others, but he also becomes free of deficiency and becomes a manifestation of “He is the Praised One” (Huwa al-Ḥamīd) in His transcendence above fault. Of course, man’s attainment of perfection and freedom from deficiency and fault is accidental (_bil-_ʿ__araḍ), not essential (bil-dhāt), and limited, not absolute, and by way of being a sign of divine perfection and transcendence, nothing else.

The secret of the exclusivity of ḥamd to God

God, the Glorified, describes Himself as ḥamīd (praiseworthy) in several verses of the Noble Qurʾān. Ḥamīd is used both in the sense of maḥmūd (praised) and in the sense of ḥāmid (praiser). On this basis, all the praise and glorification of existents belong to Him, and He is the only true Praiser. Only He can fulfill the right of praising Himself. In al-ḥamdu lillāh (all praise belongs to God), there is the possibility of both meanings (the exclusivity of praiseworthiness and the exclusivity of being the praiser for God), and it should be explained in two parts:

The Exclusivity of Praiseworthiness

The restriction of praiseworthiness to God, the Glorified, can be proven with several proofs, such as:

First Proof: Praise is in response to blessings, and since the true and essential Bestower of Blessings is the Holy Divine Essence, and all blessings (whether direct or indirect) are from Him: “And whatever blessing you have is from God” (16:53); therefore, He alone is truly worthy of praise.(163) On this basis, wherever praise of God (al-ḥamd lillāh) is mentioned in the Noble Qurʾān, one of the divine blessings and graces is presented as evidence and the middle term of the proof. For example, in Sūrah al-Ḥamd, after praise, God’s absolute Lordship (_rabb al-_ʿālamīn), absolute Mercy (al-raḥmān), special Mercy (al-raḥīm), and absolute Ownership (mālik yawm al-dīn) are mentioned, and each one serves as the middle term of a proof for the exclusivity of praise belonging to God, relating to both the system of creation and the system of legislation.

Similarly, in Sūrah al-Fāṭir, the origination of the heavens and earth (fāṭir al-samāwāt wa-l-arḍ), in Sūrah al-Anʿām, the creation of the heavens and earth and bringing forth light and darkness, and in Sūrah Sabaʾ, the ownership of whatever is in the heavens and earth, serve as the middle term of the proof, relating to the system of creation. And in Sūrah al-Kahf, the sending down of the heavenly Book upon the Prophet serves as the middle term of the proof, relating to the system of legislation and God’s recorded words.

From observing the instances of praise in the Noble Qurʾān, it becomes apparent that in addition to the collection of God’s creational or legislative verses being the middle term of the proof for the exclusivity of praise for God, such as: “All praise belongs to God, Lord of the worlds” (1:2) and “All praise belongs to God who sent down the Book upon His servant” (18:1), each of the creational and legislative verses also independently(164) serves as the middle term of the proof, such as “All praise belongs to God, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth” (34:1) in relation to the system of creation, and “All praise belongs to God who has guided us to this, and we would not have been guided if God had not guided us” (7:43) in relation to the system of creation and legislation.(165) This is to prove that each of these poor, contingent, and needy existents requires an agent and creator, and it is only the Holy Divine Essence that is absolutely self-sufficient. Therefore, all praise belongs to Him, and He alone is the true object of praise.

The Second Proof: As was discussed in the exegetical section, from the perspective of the Noble Qurʾān, the entirety of the contingent worlds of existence, inasmuch as they are created by God, are beautiful and good. Therefore, all beauty belongs to God, the Glorified, and since praise is eulogy and extolment in the face of beautiful work, all praise thus belongs to God, the Beautiful, the Originator of beauty.

It is necessary to also pay attention to this point that the beauty of God’s works is absolute, not relative such that it would only be good and beautiful in relation to His Holy Essence or some things. God’s act is entirely beauty, and His beauty is absolutely beautiful (jamīl muṭlaq), and His perfection is purely perfect: “All of Your beauty is beautiful, and all of Your perfection is perfect.”(166) This is contrary to the good works of others which are good in relation to themselves, although some of them may not be good for others.

The Third Proof: The middle term of which is the absolute lordship (rubūbiyya muṭlaqa) of God over all the worlds of existence, and which was briefly discussed in the exegetical section, is that based on a precise analysis, founded on the absolute lordship of God, the Glorified, and the unity of His acts (tawḥīd af__ʿālī), there remains no share for other than God in the attribution of an act to an agent. For it is only the divine grace that governs all the worlds of existence, and the actions that are attributed to others are nothing but the manifestation and revelation of God’s grace and act.(167)

Therefore, the Noble Qurʾān negates victory from the fighters in the battlefields of truth against falsehood and attributes it to God, the Glorified, whether they are human fighters: “You did not slay them, but God slew them” (8:17), or the unseen celestial forces that the Noble Qurʾān mentions with the subtle expression “and sent down forces which you saw not” (9:26). Concerning the Prophet (s.a.w.), it also states: “And you threw not when you did throw, but God threw” (8:17),(168) for it is only God’s grace that governs all of existence, including the battlefields of truth against falsehood. Therefore, after the defeat of the disbelievers, He does not praise the fighters, but rather mentions the cutting off of the roots of the wrongdoers and the affluent, and praises His sacred essence: “So He cut off the roots of the people who were unjust; and all praise is due to God, the Lord of the worlds.” (6:45)

Note: Based on this, the Noble Qurʾān, which considers Paradise as the reward and recompense for the actions of righteous believers: “And it will be proclaimed to them, ‘This is the Paradise you have been made to inherit for what you used to do’” (7:43), or speaks of purchasing the souls and wealth of the believers in exchange for Paradise: “Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise” (9:111), or mentions the goodly loan of the servants to God, the Self-Sufficient: “Who is it that will loan God a goodly loan” (2:245), all of these are for encouragement, not an expression of entitlement. For the dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs to Him: “And to God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth” (3:189), “To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth” (2:284), “Or who [else] owns hearing and sight” (10:31), and the entire universe is His army and troops: “And to God belong the soldiers of the heavens and the earth” (48:7). Neither does anyone other than God own anything to sell it to God, nor is God lacking in anything to receive it in a transaction or loan from His servant: “He did not seek your help due to humiliation, nor did He borrow from you due to poverty. He sought your help while to Him belong the soldiers of the heavens and the earth, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. And He borrowed from you while to Him belong the treasuries of the heavens and the earth, and He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy. He only intended to test you [to see] which of you is best in deed.”(169)

Therefore, expressions such as reward, sale, purchase, helping God, and paying interest-free loans to Him are all meant to encourage the believers to perform righteous deeds, just like a loving father’s promise to his child for pursuing education, even though the father does not need his education. So the real doer and owner is God, the Glorious, but His work is accomplished through the hands of the fighters: “Fight them, and God will punish them by your hands” (9:14). Therefore, one who is granted the success to protect and help God’s religion should be more grateful to God than others, because his hand has become a manifestation of the grace of the Gracious God.

The fourth proof, the middle term of which is God being the possessor of all perfections, was presented in the exegetical discussion.

Another proof is also derived from the initial verses of Sūrah al-Ḥamd, the middle terms of which are God’s absolute mercy, special mercy, and absolute ownership, and it will be explained in the exegesis of the second and third verses of this same chapter.

Note: Although the proofs for the exclusivity of praise at first glance seem multiple and the middle term of each proof is different from the other proofs, with careful consideration it becomes clear that some of these proofs fall under the scope of some others, and in the final analysis, the multiple proofs can be summarized in one proof as follows:

The Exclusivity of the Act of Praise to God

The exclusivity of even the act of praise to God can be proven through two arguments:

The First Argument: True praise is contingent upon true recognition of the blessing and fully encompassing all blessings. Neither of these two matters are possible for anyone other than God. “For indeed God, glory be to Him, has bestowed upon the community of this nation... a blessing whose value no created being can recognize.”(170) Therefore, He alone is truly worthy of giving praise for all blessings.

The Second Argument: Based on the unity of divine acts (tawḥīd af__ʿālī), whoever praises God is considered a sign among His signs and a manifestation among His manifestations. Therefore, the praise of those who praise is a manifestation of God’s praise. That is, primarily and essentially, God is the Praiser, and secondarily and accidentally, His manifestations are praisers. For this reason, God has praised Himself in many of the compiled verses of the Qurʾān. Qurʾānic expressions, apart from teaching praise to human beings, also carry God’s praise of Himself. What has been narrated from the Messenger of God (s.a.w.), “I cannot enumerate Your praise; You are as You have praised Yourself,” refers to this very point.

The Only Real Object of Gratitude and Praise

All perfections, beauties, and blessings belong to God the Glorified primarily and essentially, and attributing them to others is secondary and accidental. Since praise is offered in return for perfection, beauty, and bestowal of blessings, all praise belongs to God the Glorified, and no one other than Him is worthy of praise.

The difference between conciseness and detail, or between the main text and commentary, is evident in the verses of the Noble Qurʾān. Sometimes, the argument for the unity of divine lordship (tawḥīd rubūbī) is made based on the principle of the general order, coherence, and harmony throughout the realm of contingent existence, and sometimes based on the specific order of plant growth, the rising and setting of stars, the alternation of night and day, etc.

In religious culture, there is mention of the gratitude (shukr) of God, the Glorified, in response to the efforts of His servants: “Whoever performs the Ḥajj to the House or performs ʿUmra—there is no blame upon him for circling between them. And whoever volunteers good—indeed, God is Appreciative (Shākir) and Knowing.” (2:158) “And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it as he ought to strive and he is a believer—it is those whose striving is ever appreciated (mashkūr).” (17:19) The gratitude (shukr) and praise (ḥamd) of God is not verbal and is among the attributes of action, not the attributes of essence, because it is derived from His station of action.(171)

An important point that should be considered regarding God, the Glorified, being Appreciative (Shākir) and Praiseworthy (Ḥāmid) is that God’s being Appreciative in the face of the efforts of His servants and His being Praiseworthy in relation to the station of righteous servants is from an initial perspective. Otherwise, in the final analysis and conclusion, none other than God has any share of gratitude or portion and lot of praise. Rather, God, the Glorified, is appreciative of His own work and praises His own perfection. He, through one of His actions, is appreciative and praiseworthy of another action, and therefore, there is no one who is truly Appreciative (Shākir) and Appreciated (Mashkūr), Praising (Ḥāmid) and Praised (Maḥmūd) except His sacred essence.

To explain further: Based on the unity of divine acts (tawḥīd af__ʿ__ālī) and the absolute lordship of God, the righteous deeds and praiseworthy efforts of God’s righteous servants are nothing but a manifestation and reflection of God’s action. Gratitude and praise for these deeds are in reality gratitude and praise for God’s action. On the other hand, God’s gratitude for human efforts and His praise for their station is itself one of the divine blessings, which also necessitates praise and gratitude. So one who is initially thanked and praised by God must ultimately praise and thank God for being worthy of His gratitude and praise. That is why the people of Paradise praise God for the blessings of Paradise (which are God’s practical gratitude for their efforts):

“And they will say, ‘Praise be to God, who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if God had not guided us. Certainly the messengers of our Lord had come with the truth.’ And they will be called, ‘This is Paradise, which you have been made to inherit for what you used to do.’” (7:43)(172)

The success of assisting God’s religion (in this world) and its otherworldly reward (in the Hereafter) are both mercy and blessing from God, and the grateful servant thanks God for both blessings: “To Him belongs all praise in the first [life] and the Hereafter.” (28:70)

The Praise of the People of Paradise

The people of Paradise, who only speak by God’s permission—“They do not speak except one whom the Most Merciful permits, and he speaks what is right.” (78:38)—are always mindful of God’s blessings and open their tongues in praise and gratitude to Him. The Noble Qurʾān, in describing the qualities of the people of Paradise in several verses, mentions their repeated praise for God’s blessings:

a) In response to the purification of their hearts from resentment, which is one of the best spiritual blessings, and the flow of the rivers of Paradise, which is one of the apparent blessings, and without revelation and relying solely on reason, access to it is never possible, they praise God. The God who bestowed upon humanity the weighty blessing of revelation, messengership, and legislation (legislative guidance), and also granted the blessing of success in knowledge and action (existential guidance): “And We will remove whatever is in their breasts of resentment, [while] flowing beneath them are rivers. And they will say, ‘Praise to God, who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if God had not guided us’” (7:43).

b) They speak of the truthfulness of God’s promise and the blessings of Paradise, which is God’s practical gratitude in response to their deeds, and they praise God who bequeathed the land of Paradise to them so that they may reside in any part of it they wish: “And they will say, ‘Praise to God, who has fulfilled for us His promise and made us inherit the earth [so] we may settle in Paradise wherever we will. And excellent is the reward of [righteous] workers’” (39:74).

c) They thank God for removing every kind of sorrow from their hearts: “And they will say, ‘Praise to God, who has removed from us [all] sorrow. Indeed, our Lord is Forgiving and Appreciative’” (35:34).

d) The final words of the people of Paradise are also praise and gratitude to the Lord of the worlds: “Their call therein will be, ‘Exalted are You, O God,’ and their greeting therein will be, ‘Peace.’ And the last of their call will be, ‘Praise to God, Lord of the worlds!’” (10:10).

The reason for the repeated praise of the people of Paradise is that the factors and causes of praise (which served as the middle term of the proofs for establishing praise for God, the Exalted), such as God being the possessor of all perfections, His absolute lordship, and His blessings and mercy upon His servants, all have a clearer and more comprehensive manifestation and revelation in Paradise.

Those Who Praise and Glorify God

Based on the verse “And there is not a thing except that it exalts [God] by His praise...”, praise (ḥamd) and glorification (tasbīḥ) are not exclusive to those who receive blessings, but the blessings themselves also glorify and praise God. Just as the praise of those who praise, the glorification of those who glorify, and the remembrance of those who remember are also praising, glorifying and remembering God. Because all of these are instances and fall under the title of “thing” (_shay_ʾ), and every thing praises and glorifies God. Some of the people of spiritual knowledge have said:

Praise has levels, and the most apparent of its levels is the level of divine actions and also the action-related names (_asmā_ʾ fi_ʿ_lī) of God, the referent of which are at the level of action. Praise at the level of divine attributes and names whose referents are attributes will be eulogy (madḥ) and not praise in the technical sense... Praise in relation to the Necessary Being Himself is praise itself. Meaning, the attribute praises its object of attribution with all of its own existence, and praises its own essence which is the same as the essence of the object of attribution.(173)

The Station of Divine Unity of Lordship (tawḥīd rubūbī) and Its Proofs

The axis of the prophets’ propagation and the focus of their struggle with the enemies was divine unity of lordship. Some religious teachings that fall under the category of worldview only have a theoretical benefit, while others have practical implications. Belief in the existence of the Necessary Being and unity of creatorship (tawḥīd khāliqī) is of the first type. That is why the polytheists of Ḥijāz had no problem accepting the unity of creatorship. They used to say: God created the universe, but after creating it, He has nothing to do with it and human beings are not answerable to Him. Although they accepted God’s absolute lordship over the entirety of the universe,(174) they did not accept His lordship over all of its contents, such as His being the Lord of human beings or the Lord of the earth. They attributed this lordship to idols, stars, or human saints, made shrines and statues for them, and worshipped these shrines to gain their intercession.

Therefore, accepting the absolute creativity and lordship of God Almighty over the universe is easy, but accepting partial lordship that makes human beings responsible before their Lord is difficult. The message of the prophets was that human beings are responsible before God the Creator and must obey Him, and the One who is the Creator is also the Sustainer.

The Noble Qurʾān proves the unity of lordship (tawḥīd rubūbī) with two proofs:

First Proof: Based on rational analysis, lordship is a type of creation, and accepting the creatorship of God is, in fact, logically inseparable from accepting His lordship.

The explanation is that lordship is actually creating the relationships between the perfected (mustakmal) and perfection (kamāl). Nurturing is nothing but granting perfection and attributes to the attributed. For example, nurturing a tree is nothing but growing it and bringing it to fruition. Just as nurturing a human being physically means granting bodily perfections to them. The Lord (rabb) is the One who creates the relationships between perfections and the perfected, and grants perfection to the perfected and the capable. And since the Creator is only Allah, then the Lord is also only Him.

Therefore, the Qurʾān, in the best way, takes acknowledgment from the polytheists about the creativity of God Almighty in order to argue for lordship. The polytheists, who denied partial lordship, said that God does not give us anything so that we worship Him and be responsible before Him. They only considered themselves responsible before the idols, which they assumed to be partial lords, and they worshipped them.(175)

Second proof: There is a necessary connection between creativity and lordship, meaning that necessarily only the Creator can be the Sustainer. One who is not the creator of something is unaware of its existential structure and also lacks the power to manage and nurture it. So only the Creator of the universe is its Lord.

The nurturer of everything must be aware of all its inner secrets, know what this thing is connected to, and have the ability to create the necessary connections. Such awareness is inherent to creativity, because only the Creator knows the desired state of everything and its connection and harmony or incompatibility with other beings. Therefore, the Noble Qurʾān states that the management and nurturing of the world is solely an attribute of the Creator: “Our Lord is He who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright” (20:50).

The Noble Qurʾān proves the Lordship (rubūbiyya) of God through the best way of argumentation, relying on the creativity of God, the Glorified, which was accepted by the polytheists.

Therefore, Lordship goes back to creativity through two analyses, and the verses of creation, with these two explanations, are the proof of Lordship.

By proving the oneness of Lordship (tawḥīd rubūbī), the oneness of worship (tawḥīd ʿibādī) is also proven. If there is no Lord for the world other than God, then there is no object of worship other than Him. Because if the source of worship is fear of harm and abandonment of management and bestowal, or greed and desire to receive gifts, it is only appropriate in relation to the Nurturer and the Origin of management. Just as if its source is the desire to meet the worshipped one, it is still true about the Bestower of blessings and the Origin of perfection.