Have You Thanked Allah?

Salman al-Farsi radhiyAllahu anhu said:

“There was a man who was given many of the luxuries of this world, and then they were taken away from him. But he continued to praise and thank Allah until everything had been taken from him, even his bed. And then he still praised and thanked Allah. Another man, who had also been given many of the luxuries of this world asked him, ‘What are you praising and thanking Allah for?’ The man said, ‘I am praising and thanking Him for blessings which, if others asked me to give them to them in return for all that they have, I would never give them up.’ ‘What can they be?’ asked the second man. ‘Can’t you see?’ asked the first man. ‘I have my eyesight, my tongue, my hands, my feet...’”

Layth ibn Abi Burdah said:

‘When Allah gathers people on the Day of Judgement, He will remind them of His blessings. One of His slaves will say: “Remind me of something,” and Allah will say: “Remember when you faced such-and-such adversity, and you prayed to Me, so I relieved you of it. Remember when you were travelling in such and-such a place, and you asked Me to give you a travelling companion, and I did so... Remember when you asked for the hand of so-and-so the daughter of so-and-so, and others also asked for her hand, so I gave her to you to marry; and kept the others away.” His slave will be standing before his Lord, Who will remind him of His many blessings.’” Then the narrator of this story (Layth) wept and said, "I hope that no one will stand before his Lord in this way, because the one who does so will be punished." (i.e. if Allah has to point out that which should be obvious, this is a sign of a person’s ingratitude, and he will be punished.)

A man of knowledge said:

“The blessing of Allah to us in keeping the luxuries of this world away from us is greater than the blessing of that which he has given us, because Allah did not like His Prophet to have the luxuries of this world. So I prefer to live in the manner which Allah preferred for His Prophet than to live a life which He disliked for him.”

Ibn Abi’d-Dunya said:

“It was narrated to me that some scholars said: ‘The scholar should praise Allah for having deprived him of the luxuries of this life, in the same way that he should praise Him for what He has bestowed upon him. How can you compare the blessings and luxuries for which he will be accountable to the deprivation of luxuries which is a relief from being tested, and which keeps his mind free to worship and remember Allah? So he should give thanks to Allah for all of that.’”

A man said to Abu Hazim:

“What is the gratitude of the eyes?” He said, “If you see good things, you speak about them, and if you see bad things, you keep quiet about it.” He asked, “What is the gratitude of the ears?” He said, “If you hear something good, you accept it, and if you hear something bad, you reject it.” Then he asked, “What is the gratitude of the hands?” He said, “Do not take what which does not belong to you, and do not hold back from paying the dues of Allah (zakat).” Then he asked, “What is the gratitude of the head?” He said: “To have knowledge in it.” Then he asked, “What is the gratitude of one’s private parts?”

He quoted:

“‘Who guard their private parts, except from those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess – for (in their case) they are free from blame, but those whose desires exceed those limits are transgressors’” (Surah al-Mu’minun, 23:5-7).

Ibn Abi’d-Dunya mentioned that Dawud (Peace be upon Him) asked Allah: “What is the least of Your blessings?” Allah revealed to him: “O Dawud, take a breath.” Dawud did so, and Allah told him: “This is the least of My blessings on you.”