His statement, “Allah hears those who praise Him,” and, after both have risen: “Our Lord, and to You belongs all praise.”

Praise is to ascribe perfection to the one praised, coupled with love and veneration. Thus, one may say, “So-and-so praised his Lord,” meaning that he ascribed to Him the attributes of perfection while loving and venerating Him, and holding Him in reverence in his heart. Ibn al-Qayyim said: “This clarifies the difference between praise and commendation. Commendation is to describe the one commended as possessing perfection or praiseworthy qualities, but this does not necessarily entail that he is loved and venerated. A person may commend him in order to attain some aim of his own, or commend him in order to protect himself from his harm. Praise, however, can only be accompanied by love and veneration.”

This shows us the profound subtlety of the Arabic language: the letters in hamd (praise) and madh (commendation) are the same, yet when their order differs, the meaning differs.

As for those who define praise as “repeated commendation for voluntary goodness,” this definition is deficient:

First, because repeated commendation is more specific than commendation: it is commendation that is repeated, as stated in the authentic sacred hadith: “When a servant says, ‘All praise is for Allah, Lord of all worlds,’ Allah says, ‘My servant has praised Me.’ When he says, ‘The Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful,’ Allah says, ‘My servant has extolled Me.’” (1) Thus, Allah distinguished between praise and repeated commendation.

Second, because the qualification “for voluntary goodness” excludes praise for the perfection of inherent attributes—attributes that do not extend beyond their subject—such as greatness, majesty, and the like.