Praise be to God, is a predicate of a nominal clause, the content of which is intended to extol God [by stating that]: He possesses the praise of all creatures, or that He [alone] deserves their praise. God is a proper noun for the One truly worthy of worship; Lord of all Worlds, that is, [He is] the One Who owns all of creation: humans, jinn, angels, animals and others as well, each of which may be referred to as a ‘world’; one says ‘the world of men’, or ‘world of the jinn’ etc. This plural form with the yā’ and the nūn [sc. ‘ālamīn] is used to denote, predominantly, cognizant beings (ūlū ‘ilm). The expression [‘ālamīn] relates to [the term] ‘sign’ (‘alāma), since it is an indication of the One that created it.
