Word Study and Explanation

Hamd

---The word hamd generally translated as ‘praise’, has been rendered here as ‘thanks’ or ‘thanksgiving’, because wherever it is used in the Qur’an in a similar context, it invariably denotes an act of thanksgiving.

Thus we read in the Qur’an:

---And they shall say: Thanks (hamd) be to Allah Who has guided us to this. (7·43)

---And their final supplication will be, All thanks (hamd) is due to Allah, the Owner
 and Sustainer of the Universe.

(10·10)

---All thanks (hamd) is due to Allah Who has given me in my old age,
Isma‘il and Ishaq. (14·39)

--In common usage, the word ‘praise’ has a wider connotation than thanksgiving or thanks. It expresses a blanket appreciation of the good qualities or attributes of a person or a thing, whether or not such persons or things have any bearing on us as their direct or indirect beneficiaries.

---The word ‘thanks’, on the other hand, is more specific and expresses our personal feelings of gratitude to someone whose goodness has a direct impact on our welfare and well-being.

---In fact, the Arabic word hamd means both ‘praise’ and thanks, with the latter being its dominant sense as is clear from its use in the Qur’an in several places.

---To convey its fullest meaning, therefore, we need either to add the words ‘and thanks’ after ‘praise’, or better render it as ‘thanks’ only. This will convey more fully the human being’s intense sense of gratitude to his Sustainer, so beautifully epitomized in this short surah.

---The use of the word ‘praise’ on its own does not fully express the depth or the intensity of the human emotion of gratitude.

---A person may praise a good thing whether or not it has any beneficial effect on him personally or whether he is in any way, emotionally or physically, involved.

---The passionate cry of the human heart – so vividly captured in this – is born out of our direct experience and observation of various manifestations of Allah’s limitless beneficence and compassion.

---The effect of all this on us and our response form the very core of this surah. If this is not properly grasped, we may fail to appreciate its true spirit.