It is related that Salmān al-Fārisī—may Allah be pleased with him—said: “A man was granted worldly abundance, but then everything in his possession was taken away. He continued praising and extolling Allah until he had no bedding but a woven mat.1 Yet he continued praising and extolling Allah. Another man was granted worldly abundance, and he asked the man with the mat, ‘What do you have to praise Allah for?’ He replied, ‘I praise Him for that which I would never surrender, even if I were offered in exchange everything that creation has been given.’ The other man asked, ‘What is that?’ He replied, ‘Consider your eyesight; consider your tongue; consider your hands; consider your feet.’”2

The virtue of praising Allah is also established by the report narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah from Jābir ibn Abd Allah—may Allah be pleased with him—who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—say: “The best remembrance is: ‘There is no deity worthy of worship but Allah,’ and the best supplication is: ‘Praise be to Allah.’”3 Thus he—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—declared praising Allah to be the best supplication, even though praise is simply extolling the One praised together with love for Him. Ibn Uyayna—may Allah have mercy on him—was therefore asked about this hadith: “Is ‘Praise be to Allah,’ then, a supplication?” He replied: “Have you not heard the words of Umayya ibn Abī al-Salt to Abd Allah ibn Judān, spoken in hope of receiving his bounty:

Need I state my need, or has your gift sufficed me?
For modesty is ever your nature.

When a man praises you upon a day,
His praise suffices him; he need not ask outright.

A noble man whom neither morn nor eve
Can turn away from character so fair.