Him alone; accordingly, the servant loves Him for His beneficence and generosity and praises Him for them, so he loves Him from both perspectives.
Just as there is nothing comparable to Him, there is no love comparable to loving Him.
Love joined with humble submission is the servitude for which creation was brought into being, for it is the utmost degree of love combined with the utmost degree of humility, and none is worthy of that but Him, exalted is He. To associate anyone with Him in this is the shirk that Allah will never forgive and for which He accepts no deed.
His praise comprises two foundations: proclaiming His praiseworthy qualities and attributes of perfection, and loving Him on account of them. Whoever speaks of another’s excellences without loving him is not a praiser, and whoever loves without proclaiming those excellences is not a praiser—until he combines the two.
He, glorified be He, praises Himself by Himself, and He praises Himself through what He causes to flow upon the tongues of those who praise Him among His angels, His prophets, His messengers, and His believing servants; thus He is the One who praises Himself in both respects. Their praise of Him is by His will, His permission, and His creation, for He is the One who made the praiser a praiser, the Muslim a Muslim, the worshipper a worshipper, and the penitent a penitent. From Him blessings begin and to Him they return: they begin with His praise and end with His praise. He is the One who inspired His servant to repent and rejoiced in that repentance with the greatest joy—this is pure grace and bounty from Him. He inspired His servant to obey, aided him in it, and then rewarded him for it—again, pure grace and bounty from Him.
He, exalted is He, is independent of everything else in every respect, while everything else is utterly in need of Him in every respect. The servant is inherently dependent on Him for both means and ends, for whatever does not exist by Him cannot exist, and whatever is not for Him is of no benefit.