Then, in response to their not recording the reward, they...

Then, in response to their not recording the reward, they will ask how it is that they could even understand and estimate the high standard of saying such a phrase which contains the praise befitting and deserving only to Him. Allah, the Exalted, will tell them that they should record the phrase and it would be for Him to endow the servant with the reward of the praise as befitting Him ". (20) 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 owner of the house ', or / rabb-us-safinah / the owner of the ship '. In any case, the word, itself, conveys the meaning of training '. There is another idea mentioned in Majma-ul-Bayan that says: " /rabb/ means: an important person whose orders are obeyed '." However, it is probable that both meanings refer to the same origin.

The term /alamin/ is the plural form of /alam/ the world' and we cite it, here, with the meaning of a collection of different creatures with common characteristics or a common time and place'.For example, we say: the world of Man, the world of animals, and the world of plants, or,we say:the world of the East and the world of the West, or: the world of today and the world of yesterday. Therefore, when /alam/, which has a plural sense by itself, is used in a plural form, it refers to the universe'.

The writer of the Al-Manar Commentary says that it is narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that he has said /alamin/ means peoples', only. Then, the writer adds that the term is used in the Qur'an with the same meaning; for example: "...That it may be an admonition to all peoples ", (Sura Al-Furqan, No. 25, verse 1).

(21) It is true that the term /alamin/ in many occurrences, in the Qur'an, is used with the meaning of peoples', but, sometimes, it is also used with a broader scope of meaning which envelops other creatures; for instance:" Then Praise be to Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth, ِLord and Cherisher of all the worlds! ", (Sura Al-Jathiyah, No. 45, verse 36). And, also,like: " Pharaoh said: And what is the Lord and Cherisher of the Worlds ?

' (Moses) said: The Lord and Cherisher of the heavens and the earth, and all between them ...", (Sura Ash-Shuara, No. 26, verses 23,24).