GRATITUDE

The Twenty-Eighth Letter – The Fifth Matter

This treatise concerns offering thanks for the blessings of Allah.

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحٖيمِIn the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

وَ اِنْ مِنْ شَىْءٍ اِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهٖAnd there is nothing that does not glorify Him with praise of Him. – The Quran 17:44

Through repeated verses such as

اَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَ ۞ اَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَWill they not then be grateful? – The Quran 36:35,78 - Will they not then be grateful? – The Quran 36:35,78

وَسَنَجْزِى الشَّاكِرٖينَWe shall surely reward the grateful. – The Quran 3:145

لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَاَزٖيدَنَّكُمْIf you are grateful, I will surely increase you. – The Quran 14:7

بَلِ اللّٰهَ فَاعْبُدْ وَ كُنْ مِنَ الشَّاكِرٖينَWorship Allah alone and be among the grateful. – The Quran 39:66

the Qur’an shows that gratitude is the foremost act the All-Merciful Creator asks of His servants. In the Furqān-i HakīmThe Wise Qur’an, which distinguishes truth from falsehood., He calls humanity to gratitude with great emphasis. For example, in Surah ar-RahmānThe fifty-fifth chapter of the Qur’an, highlighting Allah’s mercy and countless blessings., the verse

فَبِاَىِّ اٰلَٓاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِWhich of your Lord’s favors will you deny? – The Quran 55:13

is repeated thirty-one times in a forceful and striking manner, warning us that failing to give thanks is a form of denying and rejecting His blessings.

Just as the Qur’an makes clear that gratitude is the primary purpose behind creation, so too does the universe—in which the truths and mysteries of the Qur’an are manifested—demonstrate that gratitude is the foremost result of existence. If we observe the universe carefully, we see that all its workings culminate in gratitude and that everything, in one way or another, is directed toward it. It is as though the greatest fruit of the universe and its most exalted outcome is gratitude.

Indeed, when we contemplate creation, we see that it is arranged like a circle with life at its center. All created beings are directed toward life; they serve it and produce everything necessary for its continuation. This indicates that the Lord Who created the universe has given supreme importance to life itself.

Then we see that He has likewise arranged living beings in the form of a circle with the human being at its center. It is as though the aims pursued through all living creatures converge in humanity. He gathers all living beings around humankind, subjects them to human service, appoints them for humanity’s benefit, and grants mankind authority over them. This shows that among all living beings, the Glorious Creator has chosen and honored the human being.