thus the author, may Allah have mercy on him, has described the praise with two qualities:

The first is continuity, in his words, “that never ceases.”

The second is excellence of quality, in his words, “the best praise that ought to be offered”; that is, the finest praise that He deserves to receive.

Accordingly, mā is an indefinite relative noun described by what follows; that is: the finest praise that ought to be offered to Him.

May Allah send blessings and peace …

His statement, “May Allah send blessings and peace”: after praising Allah, mighty and majestic is He, as He ought to be praised, he followed this with prayers for blessings and peace upon the best of creation.

Some scholars said: Allah’s ṣalāh means mercy; the angels’ ṣalāh means seeking forgiveness; and human beings’ ṣalāh means supplication (1).

The correct view is that stated by Abu al-ʿĀliyah: “Allah’s ṣalāh is His praise of the one upon whom blessings are invoked in the highest assembly” (2)—that is, among the angels brought near to Allah. This is more specific than absolute mercy.

Accordingly, the meaning of “May Allah send blessings upon Muhammad” is: may He praise him in the highest assembly. This is grammatically a declarative sentence, but in meaning it is performative