الشُّكر

THANKSGIVING

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2– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The first duty incumbent upon you towards Allah, Glory be to Him, is thanksgiving for His favours and seeking out His pleasure.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3329]

3– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Every single breath you take necessitates an essential thanks from you, or rather a thousand thanks or more.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 71, p. 52, no. 77]

4– It is narrated in Misbah al-Shari`aa (The Lantern of the Path): ‘If there was to be an act of worship for Allah’s sincere servants to carry out better in the sight of Allah than thanksgiving to Him in every situation, He would have definitely singled out these worshippers for a mention from amongst the rest of creation for their carrying out this special act of worship. And for the very fact that there is no better act of worship than it
[i.e. thanksgiving], He has distinguished it from all other acts of worship and has distinguished those who practice it, saying, “And very few of My servants are truly thankful.”
[ Misbah al-Shari`aa, p. 55]

5– Imam al-Hadi (AS) said, ‘The thankful person prospers more as a result of his thanks than as a result of the bounty which incited the thanks, because bounties are sources of delight whereas
[the ability] to thank is not only the consequence
[of the bounty] but a source of delight in itself.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 483]

6– Imsm al-Aaskari (AS) said, ‘None but the thankful one knows the true worth of a bounty, and none but the one with inner knowledge
[or gnostic] is truly thankful for a bounty.’
[A`alam al-Din, p. 313]

7– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Allah does not open the door of thanks for His servant and keep the door of increase shut.’
[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 94, no. 2]

8– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘When Allah bestows a bounty upon a servant, no sooner does the latter feel thankful for it in his heart than he becomes deserving of increase therein before the expression of thanks has even reached his tongue.’
[Amali al-Tusi, p. 580, no. 1197]

9– Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said in his supplication, ‘So how can I ever achieve thanksgiving?! For my thanking You requires thanksgiving in itself. Whenever I say, ‘To You belongs Praise
[Thanks]’, it becomes thereby incumbent upon me to say, ‘To You belongs Praise
[Thanks].’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 94, p. 146, no. 21]

10– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Allah, most High, revealed to Prophet Moses (AS) saying, ‘O Moses, thank Me with the thanks that is due to Me.’ Moses asked, ‘O Lord, but how can I thank You with the thanks that is due to You, when every single expression of thanks that I may convey has been bestowed upon Me by You?’ He replied, ‘O Moses, you thank Me with the thanks that is due to Me when you acknowledge that it is indeed from Me.’
[Qasas al-Anbiya’ li al-Rawandi, p. 161, no. 178]

11– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘
[True] thanksgiving for every bounty lies in restraining oneself from the things that Allah has prohibited.’
[Mishkat al-Anwar, p. 35]

12– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘When you vanquish your enemy, let your pardon of him serve as thanksgiving for the power
[given to you] over him.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 11]

13– Imam al-Baqir (AS) said, ‘Regard even a little sustenance from Allah as too much for yourself by way of sincere thanksgiving.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 285]

14– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Thanksgiving for a bounty is accomplished through avoidance of prohibited things, and an expression of complete thanks is when a man says, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.’
[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 95, no. 10]

15– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘He whom Allah favours with the bestowal of a bounty and who then acknowledges it with his heart has conveyed
[true] thanks for it.’
[al-Kafi, p. 96, no. 15]

16– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) narrated, ‘When the Prophet (SAWA) was faced with a situation that pleased him, he used to say, ‘Praise be to Allah for this bounty’, and when he was faced with a situation that made him sorrowful, he used to say, ‘Praise be to Allah in every situation.’
[al-Kafi, p. 97, no. 19]

17– It is narrated in Misbah al-Shari`aa (The Lantern of the Path): ‘The lowest level of thankfulness is to see the bounty as coming from Allah irrespective of its cause, and without attaching the heart to any other cause save Allah, Mighty and Exalted. It consists of being satisfied with what is given, and not disobeying Him by means of His bounty, nor opposing Him in any of His commands and prohibitions as a result of that bounty.’
[Misbah al-Shari`aa, p. 53]

18– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The most thankful of people is he who is most content whilst the most ungrateful of people is he who is most covetous.’
[al-Irshad, v. 1, p. 304]

19– Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said, ‘The most thankful among you to Allah is he who is most thankful towards people.’
[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 99, no. 30]

20– Imam al-Hasan (AS) said, ‘It is blameworthy that you do not thank for a favour done unto you.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 223]

21– Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said, ‘The right of he who does a kindly act towards you is that you thank him and mention his kindness; that you reward him with beautiful words and supplicate for him sincerely in that which is between you and Allah. If you do that, you have thanked him both secretly and openly. Then if you are able to repay him one day, repay him.’
[al-Khisal, p. 568, no. 1]

22– Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said, ‘Allah will ask one of His servants on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Did you thank x?’, and the servant will reply, ‘No, but I thanked You instead, O Lord.’ Allah will reply, ‘You have not thanked Me as long as you have not thanked him.’
[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 99, no. 30]

23– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Allah curses the one who cuts of the means to kindly acts, who is such that when someone does him a good turn, he is ungrateful and as a result, he deters that person from ever doing the same towards anyone else.’
[al-Ikhtisas, p. 241]

24– Imam al-Rida (AS) said, ‘Whoever does not thank the one who does him a favor from among Allah’s creatures has not thanked Allah either.’
[`Uyoun Akhbar al-Ridha (AS), v. 2, p. 24, no. 2]