—namely, that every kind of praise belongs to Him alone—yet this may be looked at from two angles: sometimes in view of His being praised, and sometimes in view of His praising whom He wills.

Second: affirming that all praise is His does not preclude some of His creatures from being praised with certain limited forms of praise.

Third: in relation to His praise, the praise accorded to anyone else amounts to nothing at all; for this reason praise has been restricted to Him, so that in the final analysis every bit of praise is His.

A useful note: the wording is not, “I praise Allah,” but rather, “All praise is for Allah,” and this second formulation is preferable for several reasons:

1. Had one said, “I praise Allah,” (1) the focus would have been on the speaker’s praise alone; whereas saying, “All praise is for Allah” makes clear that He was already praised before any praiser ever praised Him.

2. The phrase “all praise is for Allah” implies that praise and commendation are Allah’s exclusive right and possession. A wording that declares His entitlement to praise is therefore superior to one that merely states that a single individual has praised Him.

3. Had one said, “I praise Allah,” he would indeed have offered praise, but