Rabb al-alamin (Lord of all worlds): as noted earlier, this verse establishes tawhid, both the oneness of lordship (tawhid al-rububiyya) and the oneness of worship (tawhid al-uluhiyya). (9) His words, “and the Lord is the One who is worshipped,” mean that He alone deserves worship; nothing else merits it, because nothing else is Lord. This is the purport of the shaykh’s remark: since Allah is the Lord, He must necessarily be acknowledged as the only One worthy of worship, while anything besides Him is entitled to none of it. Moreover, mere affirmation of lordship is insufficient; a person must also affirm and practise ‘ubudiyya (servitude) to Allah, doing so with full sincerity. Once one admits that He is the Lord, one is obliged to recognise that He alone is the object of worship. The proof that worship is exclusive to the Lord is His saying: “O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you, so that you may become God-fearing; the One who made the earth a resting place for you and the sky a canopy, and sent down water from the sky and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. Therefore, do not set up rivals to Allah while you know.” (al-Baqara 2:21–22).