Recognition of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following was originally translated by Dr. Alan A. Godlas.  Imam ‘Ali ibn Thahir as-Sulami (q.s.) commented, in Haqa’iq at-Tafsir, on gratitude in the following verse: 

سُوۡرَةُ لقمَان

وَلَقَدۡ ءَاتَيۡنَا لُقۡمَـٰنَ ٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ أَنِ ٱشۡكُرۡ لِلَّهِ‌ۚ وَمَن يَشۡڪُرۡ فَإِنَّمَا يَشۡكُرُ لِنَفۡسِهِۦ‌ۖ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ۬ (١٢) 

We Bestowed (in the past), wisdom on Luqman: “Show (your) Gratitude to Allah.”  Any who is (so) grateful does so to the profit of his own soul: but if any is ungrateful verily Allah is Free of all wants, Worthy of all praise. (Surah Luqman:12) 

Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman Isma’il ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman as-Sabuni (q.s.), in his kitab to Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Fadhl (q.s.) wrote, “Gratitude consists of the maʿrifah of one’s incapacity to be grateful truly, because of one’s awareness of the Grandeur of God and out of the humble acknowledgment of His Awesomeness.  Subsequently, the establishment of God’s Bounty to one appears during one’s vision of the shortcoming of one’s gratitude; hence one becomes grateful.  So this is ‘gratitude belonging to gratitude’.  Then, one becomes grateful within ‘gratitude belonging to gratitude’ for gratitude.  Subsequently, God Opens the eye of the one’s heart.  Then a person sees that there is no end to embracing one’s gratitude and that gratitude for seeing one’s gratitude is gratitude.” 

قال أبو عثمان - رحمة الله عليه - فى كتابه إلى محمد بن الفضل: والشكر معرفة العجز عن الشكر إجلالاً لله وخضوعًا لعظمته ثم بدأ تحديد النعمة عليه فى رؤية التقصير فى الشكر فيشكر فيكون هذا شكر الشكر ثم يشكر فى شكر الشكر على الشكر ثم يفتح الله عين قلبه فيرى أنه لا نهاية للقيام بشكره والشكر على رؤية الشكر هو الشكر