my worship to Him.’” Thus Allah—glorified be He—is the One who deserves to be worshipped for His own sake.
He Most High says:
“All praise is for Allah, Lord of all worlds.”
Here, the word for “praise” is preceded by alif and lām, the definite article, which encompasses every form of praise. This indicates that all praise belongs to Allah. He then expresses exclusivity in His words:
“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”
This elaborates upon His words:
“All praise is for Allah, Lord of all worlds.”
It indicates that none is rightly worshipped except Allah and that no one besides Him deserves worship. His words:
“You alone we worship”
refer to worshipping Him as His divinity requires: with love, fear and hope, and in accordance with His commands and prohibitions. His words:
“And You alone we ask for help”
refer to what His lordship requires: reliance upon Him, entrusting one’s affairs to Him, and submission. For the Lord—glorified and exalted be He—is the Owner; the designation also conveys the meanings of lordship and setting things right. The Owner is the One who disposes of His dominion as He wills.
When the servant comes to perceive, through the inner reality of lordship, that all dominion and governance are in Allah’s hand—as He Most High says:
“Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He has power over all things”—
he sees no benefit or harm, movement or stillness, contraction or expansion, lowering or raising, without recognizing Allah—glorified and exalted be He—as its doer and creator, the One who contracts and expands, raises and lowers. This inward witnessing is the inner meaning of the divine words governing creation. It is knowledge of the attribute of lordship. The former is knowledge of the attribute of divinity: the unveiling of the inner meaning of the divine words prescribing obligations. Thus, fully observing commands and prohibitions and realizing love, fear and hope arise from the unveiling of knowledge of divinity.
Fully realizing reliance upon Allah, entrusting one’s affairs to Him, and submission comes after the unveiling of knowledge of lordship