2الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ العالَمينَMir AneesuddinPraise is due only for Allah1, the Fosterer2 of the worlds3,Allah is the proper name applied to the Divine Being Who exists necessarily by Himself, comprising all the attributes of perfection. Allah is an underived word, it neither has a feminine nor a plural, it has never been applied to any being except to the true God, nor did the Arabs give this name to any of their idols. As a proper name it cannot be translated into any other language nor is an equivalent of it met with in any other language. The word god is the translation of the word 'Ilaha', which is not a personal name but the name of a status or designation. In view of this, the word Allah has been retained as such, where as the word Ilaha has been translated as god.According to Raghib, the word Rabb signifies, fostering of a thing in such a manner as to make it attain one condition after another until it reaches its goal of completion. Hence it has been translated as Fosterer at most of the places and as Lord at some places where the word Fosterer does not appear to be appropriate.The word Aalam is a thing through which knowledge of something else is obtained. The whole universe is known as an Aalam because knowledge of Allah is obtained through it. World appears to be the nearest English equivalent of this word. But there are many worlds/physical, mental, spiritual, past, present, future, human, animal etc. Besides, the world today is not what it was yesterday or what it would be tomorrow. According to scientists, the universe is expanding, therefore it not only changes with time but also in space, occupying different volumes at different times. The kingdom of Allah would therefore best be represented by the plural 'Aalameen' which has been translated as worlds. Quantum physicists too propose the existence of many universes.