for He said, “And the last of their call will be: ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds’” (Yunus 10:10). Furthermore, Allah—glorified and exalted—opened the story of creation with this proclamation: “All praise belongs to Allah who created the heavens and the earth and brought into being darkness and light” (al-Anʿām 1). And He will conclude creation with it as well: “Judgment will be passed between them in truth, and it will be said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds’” (az-Zumar 75). Thus He began creation with this phrase and He ends it with it; it is therefore a weighty declaration.

His words al-hamd mean praising the One who is praised while loving and exalting Him. The definite article al in al-hamd conveys totality, signifying that every kind of praise belongs to Allah by ownership and by right. He alone deserves absolute, unrestricted praise, whereas others are praised only in proportion to the good they do. Perfect, comprehensive praise is Allah’s alone, for every blessing originates from Him.

Even when a creature does you a favor, it is in reality from Allah: He is the One who subjected that creature to you and enabled him to benefit you. Therefore, all praise ultimately returns to Allah.

The phrase li-llāh (“belongs to Allah”) is a prepositional construction functioning as the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning: praise exists—indeed, is firmly established—for Allah alone.