Detailed Exegesis

Two proofs for the exclusivity of praise to God the Glorified were derived from the noble verse “All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds.” The noble verse “The All-beneficent, the All-merciful” also contains two other proofs for the praiseworthiness of the Divine Essence, His absolute lordship (rubūbiyyah), and the restriction of praise to Him alone. This is because each of the two beautiful attributes, al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm, can serve as the middle term of a proof for the exclusivity of praise for the Sacred Essence of the Lord.

These two attributes indicate that the lordship of God the Glorified is a lordship worthy of praise, and that praise is His exclusive right. This is because the all-encompassing mercy (raḥmah raḥmāniyyah), which is absolute mercy and exclusive to God, is the cause of God the All-beneficent being praiseworthy. Similarly, the specific mercy (raḥmah raḥīmīyyah), which is exclusive to the believers, is restricted to God the Glorified, and such a special mercy is also a reason for God deserving praise.

Praiseworthy and Blameworthy Lordship

A lord (rabb) sometimes manages his subjects with knowledge, justice, and mercy, and sometimes with ignorance and oppression. The first type of lordship is praiseworthy, while the second type is blameworthy and unpleasant. To prove that God’s lordship is of the first type, the verse under discussion mentions some of the beautiful attributes of the Real. It states: The Lord and Nurturer of the worlds of contingent existence is a God who has an all-encompassing and absolute mercy (raḥmah raḥmāniyyah) and a specific mercy (raḥmah raḥīmīyyah).

The Qur’an sometimes uses negative attributes and the language of negation to distance deficiency and injustice from the sacred realm of the Divine Essence: “And your Lord does not wrong anyone” (18:49), “And your Lord is not tyrannical to the servants” (41:46).(218) And sometimes it states with the tongue of affirmation: The Nurturer of the universe is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, and He manages the universe based on His all-encompassing mercy. Since His nurturing and management are based on mercy, and there is no oppression in His Lordship (otherwise it would not be based on mercy), then His Lordship is praiseworthy and laudable.

The Qur’an portrays two kinds of lordship: one praiseworthy and the other blameworthy. In some cases it uses the lordship in the blameworthy sense, such as the words of Pharaoh who introduced himself as the supreme lord of the Children of Israel: “I am your Lord, the Most High” (79:24), or the words of Prophet Joseph (a.s.) to his companion in prison: “Mention me to your lord” and the words of God Almighty: “But Satan made him forget to mention him to his lord” (12:42), which is about the blameworthy lordship of the ruler of Egypt. Or the other words of Prophet Joseph (a.s.) which negate the blameworthy lordship of multiple lords: “O my two companions of the prison, are many different lords better or God, the One, the All-Dominant?” (12:39). But the lordship of God Almighty, which is based on mercy, is praiseworthy and commendable.