5 Pillars of gratitude

“Gratitude is built upon five pillars:

Submissiveness to Allah from the one expressing gratitude;

lov­ing Him for it;

acknowledging His favour;

praising Him for it;

and not utilizing it in a way that displeases Him”

~ Ibn al-Qayyim

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Whoever says this has offered his thanks

‘O Allaah, what blessing I or any of Your creation have risen upon, is from You alone, without partner, so for You is all praise and unto You all thanks.’

…whoever says this in the morning has indeed offered his day’s thanks and whoever says this in the evening has indeed offered his night’s thanks.

makedua.com

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Gratitude of the eyes and ears

سُئِل أبو حازم:ـ

Abu Haazim (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

ما شكر العينين

How does one thank for the blessings of eyes ?

قال: إذا رأيت بهما خيرا أذعته

He said: ” When you see good you should spread it”.

وإذا رأيت بهما شرا سترته

and when you see something which does not please you you should hide it.

وسُئِل : ما شكر الأذنين

And he was asked: How does one thank for the blessings of the ears ?

فقال: إذا سمعت بهما خيرا حفظته

He said ” When you hear something good then you should memorize it.

وإذا سمعت بهما شرا نسيته

And if you hear something which does not please you then you should forget it.

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Gratitude for the Quran

Bringing Gratitude and Praise

Make yourself constantly alert with intense praise and gratitude to your Lord for having blessed you with His greatest gift the Qur’an and for having guided you to its reading and study.
Once you realize what a priceless treasure you hold in your hands, it is but natural for your heart to beat with joy and murmur, and for your tongue to join in: ‘Thankful praise be to Allah, who has guided us to this; [otherwise] never could we have found guidance had not Allah not guided us’ (al-A’raf 7: 43).
Of all the intimate blessings and favours He has bestowed upon you nothing can match the Qur’an. If every hair on your body becomes a tongue praising and thanking Him, if every drop of blood in your body turns into a joyful tear, even then your praise and thanks will not match His enormous generosity that is the Qur’an.
Even if the Qur’an had not been sent down for us, its perfection and beauty, its majesty and splendour would deserve all the praise at our command. But that this sublime and perfect gift, having the unique distinction of embodying our Lord’s speech, has been given solely for our sake must intensify our praise beyond bounds.
Such intense praise inevitably turns into intense gratitude. And no word expresses this intense praise combined with overflowing gratitude and thanks as well as does al-hamd.

alhamdu li ‘llahi ‘I-ladhi hadana li hadha …

Why thank Allah for having given us the Qur’an? Principally because He has, thus, guided you to meaning and purpose in life and brought you on the Straight Path. The way to honour and dignity in this-world has been opened for you. In the Qur’an, you can converse with Allah. Only by following the Qur’an in this-world can you attain forgiveness, Paradise and Allah’s good pleasure in that-world.
Gratitude and joy lead to trust, hope and greater gifts. The One who has given you the Qur’an will surely help you in reading, understanding and following it. Thankfulness and joy generate an ever-fresh vigour which helps you to read the Qur’an always with a renewed zeal. The more you are grateful, the more Allah gives you of the riches that the Qur’an has to offer. Generosity evokes gratitude, gratitude makes you deserve more generosity an unending cycle. Such is God’s promise: ‘If you are grateful, I will surely give you more and more’ (Ibrahim 14: 7).
Having the Qur’an and not feeling immensely grateful for it can only mean two things: either you are ignorant of the blessings that the Qur’an contains, or you do not attach any importance to them. In either case you should be seriously worried about the state of your relationship with the Qur’an. The sentiment of gratitude that permeates every pore of your heart and mind, must also pour out in your words, which should be profuse and incessant. Thank Allah at every step of your journey: for having had time for the Qur’an, for reading it correctly, for memorizing it, For every meaning you discover in it, for having been enabled to follow it. Gratitude must also be transformed into deeds.

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Generosity and Gratitude

Allah’s Generosity is connected to gratitude, and gratitude is linked to increase in His generosity. The generosity of Allah will not stop increasing unless the gratitude of the servant ceases.

[Ali ibn Abu Talib]

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