Page 145 - Pure Life 08

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171 An Explanatory Model of Word Selection in the Translation of the Holy Quran

The word 'praise' is the expression of respect and
1
thanks to God. And it’s uncountable, so, you can’t
2
say: 'all praises'.
The Arabic preposition li before Allah here used
for ikhtisas – belonging to sth/sb. So, the meaning
of lillah is that the praise particularly belongs to
Allah, and according to Longman the verb 'belong'
3
means to be related to a particular person.
The word Rabb originally means the owner of
something who proceeds to train and improve it.
This word is absolutely applied to Allah, alone, and
if it is applied, in Arabic, for other than Him, it is
certainly used in a possessive form, as rabb-ud-dar
the landlord. In any case, the word, itself, conveys
the meaning of fostering, bringing up and training.
There is another idea mentioned in Majma'-ul-
Bayan that says: Rabb means an important person
whose orders are obeyed. However, Rabb covers
such a wide meaning that other languages lack an
equivalent of the word .
4
Considering the Torah and the Bible, and
comparing them with the Holy Quran it can be
concluded that the sense and feeling that they have
toward the word 'Lord' is as same as our feeling
and impression about the word Rabb.

1. Example: “Let us give praise unto the Lord”.
2. Lane, 1863.
3. Ibid.
4. Tabarsi, 1960.