Ar-Rum · Makki · ayah 18 of 60

Ar-Rum 30:18

وَلَهُ ٱلْحَمْدُ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَعَشِيًّا وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ

“And to Him is [due all] praise throughout the heavens and the earth. And [exalted is He] at night and when you are at noon.”

Saheeh International

Essence

All praise in the heavens and the earth is already His; the believer joins it as afternoon light thins and as noon arrives.

A reflection

Praise that does not wait for you

The wording puts 'to Him' first: wa lahu al-ḥamd, and to Him belongs the praise. Placed first like that, it narrows the claim. To Him, and to no other.

An early commentator spelt out the scope. The praise is His from all His creation, and from no one else. In the heavens it comes from the angels who live there. On earth it comes from every kind of creature. A Companion is reported to have said that the people of the heavens and the earth praise Him and pray to Him. Another commentator gave the reason: He is praised for all He created in the heavens and the earth.

Now set that beside the human appetite for praise. Picture an author in the month her first book comes out. She refreshes the page of online reviews forty times a day. A five-star review lifts her for an hour. A two-star one ruins her evening. Her mood rises and falls with the opinions of strangers.

Most of us are smaller versions of her. We notice who liked the post, who thanked us, who did not. The ego lives on a drip of approval.

This ayah describes the opposite condition. Praise from the heavens and the earth is His already, constantly, whether any single person adds to it or not. He does not refresh a page. He is not raised by the praise or lowered by its absence. 'Allah is the Free of need, the Praised' (31:26).

The sceptic's objection says that a God who commands praise must crave it. But the ayah states the praise as a fact, not a request. It is already full. Your praise does not complete it.

The humbling turn is this. Since His praise does not depend on me, I can stop fishing for my own. The one who praises Him often finds he needs the reviews far less.

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.