Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:65
He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him, so call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
هُوَ الْحَيُّ (He is the Living) means: He is the Living who does not die, the Everlasting; everything other than Him has a life that comes to an end and does not endure. لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ (there is no god but He) means: there is no truly worshipped being whose worship is licit and to whom divinity belongs, except Allah, who has these attributes among His attributes. So call upon Him, O people, devoting religion sincerely to Him, devoting obedience sincerely to Him, ascribing divinity to Him alone; associate nothing besides Him in His worship, neither idol nor image of a god, and set up for Him no equal and no peer. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds) means: thanks be to Allah, who is the Owner of all the kinds of creation — of angel, jinn, mankind, and others — not to the gods and the idols that own nothing and have no power to harm or benefit; rather, it is itself owned: if anyone strikes it with evil, it can effect no defense for itself.
A group of the people of knowledge used to command whoever said "there is no god but Allah" to follow it with: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds), on the basis of their interpretation of this verse, that it is a command from Allah to say that.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq related to me, he said: I heard my father say, he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid informed us, he said: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: whoever says "there is no god but Allah," let him follow it with: all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds; and that is His saying: فَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (So call upon Him, devoting religion sincerely to Him. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds).
ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān al-Sukkarī related to us¹, he said: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: "when one of you says: there is no god but Allah, alone, He has no partner, let him then say: all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds." Then he said: فَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (So call upon Him, devoting religion sincerely to Him. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds).
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Bishr related to us, he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he held it desirable that one, when one said "there is no god but Allah," should follow it with "all praise is due to Allah." Then he recited this verse: هُوَ الْحَيُّ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ فَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (He is the Living, there is no god but He; so call upon Him, devoting religion sincerely to Him. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds).
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid informed us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: when one of you says "there is no god but Allah, alone," let him follow it with: all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Then he recited: فَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (So call upon Him, devoting religion sincerely to Him. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds).
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Footnotes:
(1) Thus in al-Taqrīb and al-Tahdhīb. And in al-Khulāṣa: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān al-Yashkurī, Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAṭṭār al-Wāsiṭī, died in the year 244 H.