الْحَمِيد

The believer's realisation of Al-Hamīd is not to seek praise for himself, but to recognise that every worthy quality he perceives — in creation, in blessings received, in his own tongue's ability to utter thanks — is a borrowed light returning to its infinite Source, for praise in its true reality belongs to Allah alone as a necessary attribute of His Essence. He therefore strives to make his tongue a vessel of ḥamd through Alḥamdulillāh in ease and in trial, with the certainty (yaqīn) that Allah remains Al-Hamīd whether creation praises Him or falls silent. When men extol him for some good, he inwardly returns that praise to its rightful Owner, knowing that any virtue in himself is a gift he did not author. In this way the servant walks with tawakkul upon the One whose praiseworthiness is not contingent upon acknowledgement, and his heart finds rest in glorifying the One to whom all praise flows as water to the sea.