\u201cAnd when your Lord proclaimed: If you give thanks, I will give you more\u2026\u201d <\/b>(Ibrahim 14; 7)<\/b><\/p>\n
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Gratitude means showing respect and thankfulness to someone for his\/her help through actions, words, or thoughts.<\/p>\n
Gratitude through words happens by remembering the helper and praising him\/her and fulfilling other verbal actions which can be done.<\/p>\n
Gratitude through actions means to employ the body and the limbs in the direction of Allah\u2019s contentment. In other words, everybody should protect and help the servants of Allah in the extent of their power and share his wealth with them.<\/p>\n
Gratitude of the heart means to know who has given these blessings and to acknowledge His existence.<\/p>\n
Junaid al-Baghdadi was taken to pilgrimage by his maternal uncle Sariy al-Sakati when he was seven years old. Gratitude was the topic in one of the scholarly gatherings inside Haram. After everybody in the gathering presented their view, they asked Sariy Sakati to explain his. Sariy turned to Junaid and asked him to speak. After thinking a while Junaid gave the following magnificent answer:<\/p>\n
\u201cGratitude is not to rebel against Allah the Almighty by using the blessings which are bestowed by Him and not to make these blessings a capital for the sinful acts.\u201d (Attar, p. 318)<\/p>\n
In a heart where certainty settles and achieves perfection, many great spiritual states manifest themselves. Gratitude is the natural result of this station. Someone who reaches the station of gratitude sees all blessings, hidden and open, which come from Allah the Almighty. Consequently, his love for his Lord increases and he realizes that he is incapable of properly thanking Him.<\/p>\n
Knowing the value of kindness, feeling thankfulness to its doer, remembering its doer and praising him are all good manners resulting from gratitude. The following incident is a great example to show us how great the gratitude of Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) was towards the people who had done something kind to him no matter how little it had been.<\/p>\n
Muhammad b. Maslama narrates:<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day we were with Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh). He said to Hasan b. Thabit (r.a.):<\/p>\n
\u201cO Hasan! Could you please recite for us an ode from the Age of Ignorance, which is not prohibited by Allah.\u201d<\/i> He recited a poem from A\u2019sha\u2019, in which he was satirizing Alqamah b. Ulatha. Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) said:<\/p>\n
\u201cO Hasan! Do not recite this poem in my assembly again.\u201d<\/i> Hasan expressed his confusion saying:<\/p>\n
\u201cO Messenger of Allah! Do you prohibit for me from satirizing a polytheist who is with Kaiser?\u201d Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) replied:<\/p>\n
\u201cO Hasan! The one who thanks people most will be the one who thanks Allah the Almighty most. Kaiser once asked Abu Sufyan about me. He did not say nice things about me, but when Kaiser asked the same question to Alqamah, he said very nice things about me.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) expressed his gratitude towards Alqamah. (Ali al-Muttaqi, III, 738-739)<\/p>\n
The following narration of Aisha (r.a.) shows how important thanking people is:<\/p>\n
\u201cAllah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) often told me:<\/p>\n
\u201cO Aisha! Could you read some of the couplets that you have memorized?\u201d<\/i> And I used to tell him saying:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich couplets would you like? I know a lot of couplets by memory.\u201d He then would say:<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the ones about gratitude.\u201d<\/i> Once I said \u201cMay my mother and father be sacrificed for you. A poet said this and that.\u201d And then I recited a poem about the kindness of thanking the goodness of people. Upon this Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) told me:<\/p>\n
\u201cO Aisha! As Gabriel informed me, when Allah the Almighty resurrects the creation, He will ask the person who had received goodness from others:<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cDid you thank the one who had done a favor to you?\u201d And he will reply:<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cO Lord! I thanked You for I know that all goodness comes from You.\u201d But Allah the Almighty will tell him:<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cYou will not properly thank Me as long as you do not thank the person who had done the favor to you.\u201d<\/i> (Ali al-Muttaqi, III, 741-42)<\/p>\n
If thankfulness is stated only by tongue and heart, then it would be incomplete. A complete gratitude can be achieved by the action. As Allah the Almighty created everything with a purpose and wisdom, He bestows His blessings for a purpose. Blessings given to human beings, such as life, faith, and health, are all for the purpose of thanking Allah and serving on His path. The following verse proves this:<\/p>\n
\u0647\u064f\u0648\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0630\u0650\u0649 \u0627\u064e\u062e\u0652\u0631\u064e\u062c\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0645\u0652 \u0645\u0650\u0646\u0652 \u0628\u064f\u0637\u064f\u0648\u0646\u0650 \u0627\u064f\u0645\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064e\u0627\u062a\u0650\u0643\u064f\u0645\u0652 \u0644\u0627\u064e \u062a\u064e\u0639\u0652\u0644\u064e\u0645\u064f\u0648\u0646\u064e \u0634\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0626\u064b\u0627 \u0648\u064e\u062c\u064e\u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e \u0644\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0645\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0651\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0639\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0627\u064e\u0628\u0652\u0635\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0627\u064e\u0641\u0652\u0626\u0650\u062f\u064e\u0629\u064e \u0644\u064e\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0643\u064f\u0645\u0652 \u062a\u064e\u0634\u0652\u0643\u064f\u0631\u064f\u0648\u0646\u064e<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts that haply you might give thanks.\u201d<\/b> (al-Nahl 16; 78) Allah the Almighty has given humans heads and in return asked from them to prostrate to show their thankfulness. He has bestowed upon them legs and requested service and worship as their manifestation of thankfulness.<\/p>\n
Gratitude is also a moral quality, which expresses servant\u2019s manners and respect towards Allah the Almighty and elevates the servant\u2019s value in the presence of his Lord. However, people who have such feelings are very few. In this respect, Allah the Almighty says in the Qur\u2019an:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Give thanks, O house of David! Few of My bondmen are thankful.\u201d <\/b>(Saba\u2019 34; 13) Because, human beings are such creations that easily forget and tend towards this world.<\/p>\n
Human beings should be in great effort and endeavor in order to attain such nice attributes as patience and gratitude. How elegantly Rumi (q.s.) states this in the following lines:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ass, your fleshly soul, has gone off; tie it to a peg. How long will it run away from work and burden, how long?<\/i> It must bear the burden of patience and thanksgiving, whether for a hundred years or for thirty or twenty. None that is laden supported another’s load; none reaped until he sowed something.\u201d <\/i>(Mathnawi, <\/i>II, verses: 729-731) \u201cIn (the view of) reason it is necessary to give thanks to the Benefactor; otherwise, the door of everlasting wrath will be opened.\u201d<\/i> (Mathnawi<\/i>, III, 2670)<\/p>\n
In reality, Allah the Almighty does not need anybody\u2019s gratitude. His Divineness, Might, and Sovereignty, neither ascends as a result of someone\u2019s thankfulness nor descends because of someone\u2019s disbelief. On the contrary, He is the Ruler of everything. Allah the Almighty expresses this fact through the words of Solomon (pbuh) in the Qur\u2019an:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhosoever gives thanks he only gives thanks for (the good of) his own soul: and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul’s hurt). For lo! My Lord is Absolute in independence, Bountiful.\u201d<\/b> (al-Naml 27; 40)<\/p>\n
Great blessings and closeness to Allah are bestowed upon those who thank Allah; while beauty, skills, and abilities will be taken from those who do not thank Him. These will be taken from them to such an extent that there will be no signs of these good manners left in them.<\/p>\n
In his every act and behavior Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) was in a state of thankfulness. Aisha (r.a.) reported this attribute of the Prophet (pbuh) as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Prophet used to offer prayer at night for such a long time that his feet used to swell. I said to him:<\/p>\n
\u201cO Allah’s Apostle! Why do you do it whereas Allah has forgiven all your faults of the past and those to follow?\u201d He said,<\/p>\n
\u201cShouldn\u2019t I love to be a thankful servant of Allah?\u201d<\/i> (Bukhari, Tafsir, 48\/2)<\/p>\n
With this saying, Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) expresses that the blessings of Allah the Almighty should be regarded as a reason to increase thankfulness to Allah and to not show a decrease the acts of servitude. No matter how few the servants\u2019 sins are, proper manifestation of gratitude for the endless Divine bounties is above human capacity. For this reason, repentance and being aware of one\u2019s weakness are the requirements of servitude. Thus, a person can increase his thankfulness and come closer to Allah the Almighty by continuing the acts of worship. In this respect, Rumi (q.s.) elegantly becomes an interpreter to the lofty feelings of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) in the following lines:<\/p>\n
\u201cThanksgiving for the bounty is sweeter than the bounty (itself): how should he that is addicted to thanksgiving go towards (direct his attention to) the bounty? Thanksgiving is the soul of the bounty, and the bounty is as the husk, because thanksgiving brings you to the abode of the Beloved. Bounty produces heedlessness, and thanksgiving alertness: hunt after bounty with the snare of thanksgiving to the King.\u201d<\/i> (Mathnawi<\/i>, III, verses: 2895-2897)<\/p>\n
Ali (r.a.) said in this regard:<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people worship expecting something in return. This is the servitude of a merchant. Some others worship because of their fear and this is the servitude of slaves. And some others worship for thankfulness and this is the servitude of distinguished people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allah the Almighty informs us how He will reward His thanking servants in the following verse:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026If any do desire a reward in this life, we shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, we shall give it to him. And swiftly shall we reward those that (serve us with) gratitude.\u201d<\/b> (Al-i Imran 3; 145)<\/p>\n
Humans usually incline to become cruel, unfair, and oppress others, when they gain power and wealth; while, thankfulness is one of the good manners that protect them from unruliness; because, thankfulness is the effort to prevent conceit, extremism, and consequently cessation of the blessings. Thanking servants know that all their wealth are the blessings of Allah the Almighty and they are ordered to use these blessings according to Divine Will. The basis of modesty and maturity of the prophets whom great wealth, power, and authority were given, like David and Solomon, is this principle of faith. The real reason for the sorrowful end of Qarun, who went astray because of his wealth, was his deprivation from this understanding and absence of his thankfulness.[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n If a believer can prove through showing his gratitude that he will not transgress, boast, and get spoiled because of his wealth, Allah the Almighty will bestow upon him more blessings. The next verse expresses this point:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 If you are grateful, I will add more (favors) unto you; but if you show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed.\u201d <\/b>(Ibrahim 14; 7)<\/p>\n This is why the Prophet (pbuh) mentions that a thankful heart is among the greatest blessings given to a human being. Thawban (r.a.) narrates that:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the verse \u201c\u2026and (as for) those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in Allah’s way, announce to them a painful chastisement\u201d <\/b>(al-Tawba 9; 34) was revealed, we were on an expedition with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Some companions said \u201cthe ruling about gold and silver has been sent (so we will no longer save them). We wish we would know which wealth was more valuable, so we could save that.\u201d Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) told them:<\/p>\n \u201cThe most superior possessions are a tongue that praises Allah, a thankful heart, and a righteous wife who helps her husband\u2019s faith.\u201d<\/i> (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 9\/9)<\/p>\n Allah\u2019s Messenger (pbuh) would tell his companions that they were going to be questioned for even a single meal that they had after days of hunger and that they should be thankful to Allah the Almighty for His blessing. To some extent the following lines of a poet explain the feelings of the Prophet (pbuh):<\/p>\n Some people complain about the thorns of the roses<\/p>\n