Fifth phrase:

To Him belongs all praise. Since the perfections observed in all creatures (occasions of giving praise and paying tribute) are His, all praise belongs to Him. All odes and acclaims, regardless of origin and time, are addressed to Him, for praise is caused by bounty and beneficence, perfection and grace, and because everything leading to praise belongs to Him. Indeed, the Qur’an points out that whatever a creature does or is seen to do is, in reality, its worship, glorification, prostration, supplication, and praise—all of which rise continuously to the Divine Court. The following comparison shows this truth affirming God’s Unity.

We see the universe as a huge enclosed park, its roof gilded with lofty stars and its ground inhabited by ornamented creatures. In this form, we see its well-ordered, luminous heavenly bodies and purposeful and ornamented earthly creatures pronounce, simultaneously and in their particular tongues: “We are miracles of an All-Powerful One of Majesty’s Power. We bear witness to the Unity of an All-Wise Creator, an All-Powerful Maker.”

Viewing Earth as a garden containing countless varieties of multicolored and beautifully ordered flowering plants and through which innumerable animal species are scattered, we see them proclaim, through their well-ordered structures and well-proportioned forms: “Each of us is a miracle, a wonder of art created by a Single All-Wise Maker, a herald and witness to His Unity.”

Looking at the upper parts of that garden’s trees, we see knowingly, wisely, generously, and beautifully made fruits and blossoms. They proclaim with one tongue: “We are miraculous gifts and wondrous bounties of an All-Merciful One of Grace and an All-Compassionate One of Perfection.”

Thus the park’s heavenly bodies and beings, the garden’s plants and bushes, and its trees’ and vegetation’s blossoms and fruits testify and proclaim: “Our Creator and Fashioner, Who has granted us such gifts, controls all things. Nothing is difficult for Him or beyond His Power, in relation to which everything is equal and has the same value. The largest is as easy as the smallest in relation to His Power; and the small is as full of artistry as the large. In fact, the artistry in the smaller is greater than in the larger.”

All past events, which are wonders of His Power, bear witness that the Absolutely Powerful One brings into effect and existence all wonders of the future’s contingencies. The One Who brought about yesterday will bring about tomorrow, the All-Powerful Being Who created the past will create the future, and the All-Wise Maker Who made this world will make the Hereafter. So, just as the All-Powerful One of Majesty is the true object of worship, He also is the only one worthy of such praise. As He is the exclusively Worshipped One, all praise and glory belong to Him.

Would the All-Wise Maker Who created the heavens and Earth leave people to themselves and without purpose, even though they are the Tree of Creation’s most significant and perfect fruit? Would He abandon them to random cause and effect, thereby reducing His profound Wisdom to futility? Would a wise and knowledgeable being plant and care for a tree in order to prepare it for important purposes, only to leave its fruits to rot or for thieves or to scatter? Of course not, for the whole point is to produce fruit.

Humanity is the universe’s conscious being, most perfect fruit, result, and aim. Given this, why would the universe’s All-Wise Maker give humanity’s fruits—praise and worship, thanks and love—to others? Doing so would nullify Divine Wisdom and the purpose for creating humanity, stain His Power with impotence, and convert His All-Encompassing Knowledge into ignorance.

Since conscious beings are the pivot of the Divine aims behind creating the universe, their thanks and worship given for the bounties they receive can be directed only to the Maker. One who cannot create spring or all fruits (which bear the same stamp) cannot create an apple, give it to someone as a bounty and grace, and then receive that person’s thanks (sharing in the praise due to the only One Who deserves it).

Given this, the universe’s Creator and Majestic Provider, Who sustains all creatures and makes Himself loved by conscious beings through His art’s innumerable miracles, will not abandon their thanks and worship, praise and love, recognition and gratitude to nature and causes. Doing so would deny His Absolute Wisdom and nullify His Lordship’s Sovereignty. All thanks and praise belong to Him alone, for the universe’s reality unceasingly proclaims with the tongue of truth: “Every being, from past eternity to future eternity, praises Him.”