place it before all other speech, whether addressed to the Creator or to created beings. For this reason, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will offer praise before interceding on the Day of Resurrection. Likewise, he instructed us to extol Allah in the tashahhud before making supplication. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“Every important undertaking that is not begun with ‘All praise is for Allah’ is incomplete. The first to be called to Paradise will be those who constantly praise Allah, praising Him in prosperity and adversity.”

He described the words “The Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” as commendation, and the words “Master of the Day of Judgment” as glorification.

The words “All praise is for Allah” express praise without qualification. “Praise” is a generic noun, and a genus has both quantity and quality. Commendation expresses its quantity, while declaring His greatness and magnifying Him expresses its quality. “Glory” denotes vastness and loftiness; it thus magnifies the quality, degree, and continuous magnitude of praise. This is because these words describe Him as possessing sovereignty. Sovereignty entails power and the ability to do whatever He wills. “The Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” describes Him as possessing mercy, which entails His bestowing goodness upon His servants through His will and power as well. Good comes about through power and a will that encompasses mercy.

When He has the power and the will to bestow goodness, every good comes about. Deficiency arises only from a lack of power or a lack of will to do good. Thus, “the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, the Sovereign” possesses the utmost will to bestow goodness and the utmost power. Through this, the good of this world and the Hereafter is attained.

The words “Master of the Day of Judgment” are used even though He is also “the Sovereign of this world,” because on the Day of Judgment no one will claim to contest His sovereignty. It is the greatest day. This world, compared with the Hereafter, is only like what remains when one of you dips his finger into the sea: let him see what it brings back. “Judgment” is the outcome of the deeds of His servants. The wording may also indicate His sovereignty over this world by implication—and, according to some, through its general scope—so sovereignty belongs to Him