is Allah, Blessed and Exalted. They then said, “And you are the most virtuous of us in virtue and the greatest of us in bounty.” He replied, “Say your customary words—or part of them—but do not let Satan carry you away.” Narrated by Abu Dawud with a sound chain.
From this hadith we learn that the Prophet ﷺ forbade those men to address him with the words, “You are our master,” declaring instead, “The Master is Allah.” He likewise forbade them to say, “and you are the most excellent of us in excellence and the greatest of us in bounty,” for he feared they might lapse into excess. He disliked being confronted with praise lest it drive them to exaggeration, and he warned, “Do not let Satan drag you along,” meaning: do not allow him to make you his runners, for a jari is a courier or agent. He thus made clear that praising someone to his face—even for qualities he truly possesses—is a work of Satan, because it fosters self-aggrandizement in the one praised, which is at odds with perfect monotheism, and it may also lead the praiser to excess, raising the praised person to a status he does not deserve.
The Prophet ﷺ also prohibited itra’—excessive eulogy. Itra’ is praise that goes beyond bounds until it results in shirk by attributing to the praised person qualities of Lordship. This occurred in many panegyrics composed by extremists, such as the author of the Burda and others, which dragged them into major idolatry. The Burda, for example, says:
O noblest of creation, there is none for me to seek refuge with
Except you when all-embracing disaster descends;
and:
From your generosity flow this world and the next,
And from your knowledge comes the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen.
Once Allah had perfected for the Prophet ﷺ the station of servitude, he grew averse to being praised—so as to safeguard that station and protect the creed. He guided the ummah to abandon such praise, out of sincere counsel and to shield the realm of monotheism from anything that might corrupt or weaken it through shirk or its avenues. Among these safeguards was his forbidding those men to say to him, “You are our master,” for sayyid is derived from saʾāda (eminence).
Ibn al-Athir said in al-Nihaya: “The term sayyid is applied to the Lord, the owner,