Which has Priority - Patience or Gratitude? (7/7)

Ibn Sirin said: "Ibn 'Umar used to look a lot in the mirror. When I asked him about it, he said that when he looked at his face he praised Allah for everything good-looking he saw, for the same thing might be bad-looking in some other people's faces."

Bakr Ibn ‘Abdullah said: "O Sons of Adam! Close your eyes, if you want to know the value of the bounties that Allah has bestowed upon you.”

Commenting on the Verse reading; "And has made His bounties flow to you in exceeding measure, (both) seen and unseen", Muqatil said: "The seen bounties are represented in Islam, and the unseen ones represent His covering of your sins."

Ibn Shawdhab [1] reported that 'Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Allah certainly bestows merit on the people of the Fire, and it is that if He wanted to torment them with something severer than it, He would do so."

Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani said: "Those who will sit beside the All-Merciful (i.e. Allah) on the Day of Resurrection are the persons who are generous, forbearing, kind, merciful, grateful, righteous, and patient."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

"Let him who sees his brother undergoing tribulation say: "Praise be to Allah Who has made well for me what He has tested you with, and conferred on me special favors, above you and above His Creation" By then, he will have expressed the gratitude deserved for these favors." [2] And 'Abdullah Ibn Wahb said that he heard ‘Abdur-Rahman Ibn Zayd saying: "The truly grateful person praises Allah in the most perfect way. Then he explained it saying: "He contemplates the bounties of Allah in his body: his hearing, vision, hands, feet, and the like, and finds that there is no place in it but contains (at least) one of Allah's favors. It is a duty upon the servant to use the bounty that is in his body only in complementing Allah's commands concerning it, and so must he deal with the other bounties. Only in this way will he have praised Allah perfectly." [3]

Ka'b said: "Whenever Allah bestows some bounty upon someone and he shows gratitude, Allah surely gives him its benefit in the world, and raises him up in ranks and degrees in the Hereafter. And whenever Allah bestows some bounty upon someone but he does not show gratitude, Allah certainly deprives him of its benefit in the world, and opens gates for him to the Fire, with which He torments him unless He forgives his sin."

Al-Hasan said: "Whoever sees only food, drink and clothes from among Allah's bounties upon him, it means that he is short of knowledge, and that the time of his torment is quite close."

'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

"Whoever drinks pure water, and it enters with no harm (i.e. safely) and then goes out with harm (i.e. urine), it becomes a must on him to show gratitude for it."

Some people told Al-Hasan that a man confined himself away from people. Al-Hasan went to the man and asked him about it. The man said: "Every day I enter upon the morning and night between sins and favors; so I wanted to occupy my time in asking Allah to forgive my sins, and in showing gratitude for the favors He bestowed on me." Thereupon Al-Hasan said: "O Servant of Allah! You understand matters better than I do. Go on as you are."

Ibn Abud-Duniya narrated that Muharib Ibn Dithar said in his invocation: "O Allah! Praise be to You. You have raised me, provided me with strength and power, made me independent, helped me get married, and fed and clothed me. You always accompany me in my travels, secure my mount, and return me back safe and sound. You cure me, give me when I ask, and respond to my invocations. All praise be to You."

Commenting on the Verse reading:

“But if you count the favours of Allah, never will ye be able to number them.” (Surah Ibarheem: 34),

A scholar said: "Glory be to Allah Who has made one's confession of his disability of knowing the true value of bounties, the only available knowledge about them, just as He has made the only limit of seeing Him that man realizes that no one can see Him Knowing that His servants cannot go beyond these limits, Allah makes it a sign of gratitude that they certainly believe that they cannot show the true gratitude deserved for His bounties, just as He makes it a sign of belief that His servants know He is never to be seen."

‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr reported that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

"Allah builds a house in Paradise for the one who enjoys four qualities: (first) holding fast in his affair by there is no god but Allah; (second) saying, when being afflicted with calamity, "To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return."; (third) saying, when being given something, "Praise be to Allah."; and (fourth) saying, when having committed a sin, I ask Allah to forgive me.”[4]

Commenting on the Qur’anic Words reading: “Verily he was a devotee Most grateful", Mujahid said:

“He[5] praised Allah for everything he ate, for everything he drank, and for every time he used an organ, that Allah praised his deeds and said he was most grateful.”

Gratitude as a right of Allah [6]

There are two types of rights that Allah has on His servants: First: fulfillment of His commands, and Second: Showing gratitude to Him.

Allah (Glory be to Him) orders His servants to show gratitude to Him, and to fulfil His commands. Since he is always neglectful in carrying out these rights, the servant realizes how badly he is in need of Allah's forgiveness, otherwise he will be punished for his negligence. The more he understands his religion, the more his feeling of fear and yearning increases. Religion is not only to avoid what Allah dislikes, but also it is to do what He likes. Interestingly enough, Allah detests most the ones who pay no attention to the hard commands pertaining to matters, such as Jihad and commanding of good and forbidding of wrong. These people do not even think of handling such tasks. For this reason, they are worse in the sight of Allah, than the people of kaba’ir. (Kaba’ir means major sins.)

When a servant witnesses the favors of Allah, he realizes that his good deeds are nothing in comparison to them. This is because no one can number Allah's favors, and the smallest one amongst them exceeds all the servant's good deeds. Therefore, the servant has to always contemplate Allah's right of gratitude upon him.

Eventually, as long as the servant witnesses Allah's bounties and the duty of showing gratitude ordained for them, he keeps accusing himself of negligence. Nevertheless, when he fulfills the duty ordained, he gets very close to the mercy of Allah. May Allah help us all!