Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 70 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:70

وَهُوَ ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْحَمْدُ فِى ٱلْأُولَىٰ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۖ وَلَهُ ٱلْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

“And He is Allāh; there is no deity except Him. To Him is [due all] praise in the first [life] and the Hereafter. And His is the [final] decision, and to Him you will be returned.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every praise given or received ends with Allah, here and hereafter; His is the final word, and to Him you are going back.

A reflection

The thanks were never for the guide

At the foot of a great waterfall, a tour guide gathers her group on the viewing platform. The spray drifts over them. Someone gasps, and a child laughs at the noise. At the end of the walk the tourists shake her hand. Thank you, they say, that was incredible. A few press notes into her palm.

She smiles and takes the thanks. She is good at her job. But she knows something the tourists half forget. She did not make the water fall. She only knew the path to where it could be seen.

The ayah says lahu al-ḥamd: praise belongs to Him. The small word lahu, to Him, comes first in the Arabic, which narrows it. All of it is His, and none of it belongs anywhere else in the end. One commentator explains why. He is the giver of every blessing in Himself. Everyone else is only a channel it passes through. Another goes further. Every fine quality in anyone, a skill, a kindness, a sharp mind, was created by Him. So praise for any of it returns to its Maker.

This is where the ego is quietly undone. We love praise. We fish for it, store it and replay it. A compliment on our work can lift a whole week, and its absence can sour one. The ayah does not forbid people from thanking you. It tells you where that thanks is going. You were the guide on the platform. The waterfall was never yours.

This is not a demand from a Lord who needs applause. In a narration His Messenger ﷺ relates from Him, Allah says something striking. If the first and last of creation shared the most God-fearing heart, it would add nothing to His dominion (Sahih Muslim). Praise does not enlarge Him. It simply describes Him truly, the way a good map describes a coast.

So the next time someone praises you, notice the warmth, and then pass it on. Say al-ḥamdu lillāh inwardly, and mean the preposition. It was His before it reached you.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.