“So glorify Allah in the evening and the morning. His is all praise in the heavens and in the earth; (and glorify Him) in the afternoon and when the sun begins to decline.”
(Al Qur’ān – 30:17-18)
The use of the word fa (“so”) in the ayah 30:17 signifies that people have now come to know that belief with righteous action leads to one kind of end and disbelieving and decrying the true faith as false to another. This should make them glorify God both in the evening and in the morning.
The use of the word fa has also another significance. The unbelievers dismissed the Hereafter as something improbable. In so doing they perceived God as One devoid of absolute power, as One unable to enforce His will. The believers are being told that the way to undermine this false notion is to celebrate God’s glory and proclaim that He is free from every weakness. This directive is addressed to the Prophet ﷺ and through him to all believers.
To glorify God encompasses the declaration that He is above and beyond all the shortcomings, defects and weaknesses which the polytheists attribute to Him; this because of their adherence to polytheism and their denial of the Hereafter.
The best way to glorify God is to observe Prayer. For this reason, some Qur’ānic scholars maintain that the celebration of God’s glory in this ayah means to observe Prayers at given times. This interpretation is because the ayah specifies certain specific hours to celebrate God’s glory.