Alhamdu means that (all) praise, thanks, gratitude, be to Allah alone, not to any one else, from the
beginning of the universe to its end, not under compulsion, but because He alone, and none else,
deserves to be praised, not only for the fulfilment of his particular desires but also, mainly, for all the
bounties and blessings made available to man in his existence.
The love of the merciful for His creation is so deep and fulfilling that no compensation, even in the
form of gratitude, can be offered to Him. In fact He needs no return. The divine mercy is independent
of gratitude. It reaches and covers all the created beings whether the creatures show gratitude or not
for the benefits and bounties they make use of and enjoy. The smallest bounty is an unconditional
favour. Man does not deserve it, nor has he any right to claim any favour from the Lord. It is the allembracing mercy of the merciful Lord which reaches one and all, whether any creature asks for it or
not, whether the recipient acknowledges it or not.
A person likes to be praised if he accomplishes or acquires something extraordinary, novel or very
important, after investing his best efforts, but the good in Allah is with Him. He has not acquired it.
He is goodness itself in its fullness and perfection. He is not in need of praise. In a prayer, He is
praised, only to make the pray-er love and cherish the attributes which are praised, because as a
matter of course, he would like to possess the attributes which he is praising.
The all-knowing Lord-nourisher is fully aware of the needs and wants of all His creatures more
than they themselves know. He bestows His favours and bounties without receiving petitions from
them, yet to educate, train and discipline the mankind, prayer, in which He is praised, is necessary, so
that man remains attached with the merciful creator, while enjoying the divine bounties, conscious of
the absolute sovereignty of the Lord of bounties and grace.
Aqa Mahdi Puya says:
To find out the truth in connection with the praise and the praising (hamd) the question as to who
praises whom, must be answered. Man can praise Allah if his existence is presumed to be as eternal
as Allah, whereas, in fact, it is Allah who created man and taught him how to praise. Truly, the praise
as well as the praising both belong to Allah. Allah is the hamid, the praiser, and also the mahmud, the
praised. There is none else other than Allah who is the subject as well as the object of the praise, and
in this sense no one can share His praise. This is implied in the preposition li (for), which signifies
the exclusive authorisation.
Hamd, adoration through praise, takes the place of gratitude to be expressed for getting favours and
bounties. Man, by nature, shows his readiness to yield to love and compassion, even to the extent of
unconditional surrender. To depend upon the co-operation and help of others is human. When he finds
that someone, attached to him, is taking interest in his well-being, he is automatically drawn to him.
His desire for a happy life makes him go after that which helps and protects, and avoid that which he
finds harmful to his existence and welfare. By realising that praise, in any form or content, must be for
Allah, and for no one else, and that Allah alone deserves every praise and adoration, man is freed
from the fear of awesome tyranny, corruption and servitude which he presumed that the dreadful and
false gods would inflict upon him. On the contrary now he knows that his real master is the Lord of
beneficence and mercy whom he approaches through His praise . He is free to get as near to Him as
he likes in order to earn more and more from the bountiful benefactor who Himself is ready to bestow
favours and bounties, in abundance, on the sincere seeker and on those on whose behalf He is
beseeched.
The Arabic word shukr implies gratitude for some particular favour, whereas hamd, without
reference to any particular quality, is an objective gratitude, for all that is good and gracious,
profitable and advantageous. It may also involve the idea of free, unrestricted and unqualified
admiration. But, again, admiration refers to the Arabic wordmadh which is used both for the animate
as well as the inanimate objects, without necessarily implying that existence of the qualities admired
depends on the conscious will of the object, in which case admiration will relate to the qualities
admired, not to the possessor of those qualities. Allah is never praised in this sense. The
prefix al confirms that hamd is for no one but Allah who alone, not merely on account of the
manifestations of the divine attributes, but because He is the sole owner of those glorious qualities,
deserves to be praised; identifying His self-existent absolute self. The qualities belong only to Him
alone, to none else, and it is so for all times since eternity, and will be so till eternity. So, in this
sense the English word "praise" should be understood and used as a translation of hamd.
Hamd (the praise) is Allah's. It has no beginning and no end. We, the created beings, do our best,
within our limitations, to give expression to the "real praise" (hamd). Hishamd, as His grace, is
unlimited and continuous. No one can praise the merciful even for a whole life-time and say that
justice has been done, because every time one gives thanks to Allah he inhales and also exhales,
drawing in the good life-giving air and exhaling the bad air, two bounties he is receiving for which
only once can he say "I thank the bountiful Lord". It is impossible to thank Allah for the innumerable
bounties He has put at the disposal of man, right inside his body, and in the world where he lives as
an individual as well as a member of the community. Even the thanks and praises he offers to the
bountiful have been taught to him by the Lord of the worlds. Therefore, every creature is, all the time
under the obligation of the bountiful grace of Allah.
By praising, we reach the stage where the infinite goodness of our Lord purges out of us the taste
for evil and creates in us the eagerness to get nearer and nearer to Him to earn His mercy which
purifies us and reflects in us the divine attributes.
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