Glorify the Name of Your Lord, the Most High

Occasion: A khatira delivered on September 9, 2026.Source: Transcript of a recorded khatira by Dr. Ahmed AbouSeif, watch the original video on YouTube

Last time we began speaking about glorifying God, and we paused at the word describing His position: the Most High.^[1] Even this word gives us the feeling that we are addressing the One who is beyond all our expectations. Whatever you add to "most," the word already carries perfection in itself, one hundred percent, something you can never reach.

Why must we glorify God with this name? God Himself gives us the reasons, one after another: this is the first, then the second, and this is the third.^[2] Let us look at what they mean.

He created everything in perfection

He created everything with perfection, with no mistakes. When someone looks in the mirror and says, "I don't like this in my face, I don't like that," are you talking about your face, or about the Creator of the face? You find your muscles weak, or strong; you see yourself as bad or good, beautiful or not. You are speaking about the Creator. If you brought some damage upon yourself, blame yourself for the damage you did. Otherwise you are objecting to the Creator: my face, my body, whatever it is, it is from God.

He ordained, and He guided

Then comes the meaning of ordaining and guiding. At the very beginning of my life I tried to become a doctor, but God stopped me on that road and guided me to this college, this field, this city, this country, and finally to be sitting with you right now. Who guided me to be with you now? Had I followed my own direction from the beginning, I would be in a hospital somewhere else, dealing with people's bodies and seeing the same symptoms every day. But God moved me away from that field to something very different: instead of healing people's bodies, we try to heal their souls, their hearts, their minds.

Who brought you here? God, glorified is He. Who guided you to be the principal, or the janitor, or the servant? God, subhanahu wa ta'ala. If you do not believe that, look at the grass on the street. Who made it grow? Who showed it to people, beautiful or ugly, however you see it? God is giving us a hint about what He is doing: He is doing everything, and we do nothing without His permission. For that reason we need to glorify Him.^[3]

The guidance that completes it

Once everything is settled and done, and all is perfect, alhamdulillah, we still need guidance. So God gave the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ the Book that He sent down from the sky. Whoever sincerely seeks the Quran, God will give him the Quran and will not take it back. But if you try to lose it, it will be taken away from your mind, even if you do not notice. Once you stop repeating your daily portion of the Quran, God is taking His Book back from your mind and heart. Be careful about that, and you will never forget it.

Two ways, and which is better

God shows us two ways, and we must choose one: the way of the hereafter or the way of this world. Whichever you choose, God lets you go along it, and you will see the consequences in due time. The main problem with people is that they prefer this world; they look at it as more important and try to earn more of it than the hereafter.

But God tells us that the hereafter is better and more lasting. This is no new information for you. It was said even before Ibrahim and Musa, and it stood as an example in what came to the prophets and messengers before the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is a fact from the very beginning.

So if you are given a chance to do something for the sake of God or for the sake of this world, and you cannot combine the two, leave this world and go to God, glorified is He.

We ask God to accept from all of us.