Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
(From Uddat as-Saabireen wa Dhaakirat ash-Shaakireen)


The Sahabah and Taab'ieen o*n Gratitude

Salman al-Farsi (r) 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 Allah 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."

Mukhallad ibn al-Husayn said: "The definition of gratitude is abstaining from wrong action." Abu Hazim said: "Every blessing that does not bring you closer to Allah is a disaster." Sulayman said "Remembering His Blessings makes o*ne love Allah."

Hammad ibn Ziyad narrated that Layth ibn Abi Burdah said: "I went to Maidah, where I met Abdullah ibn Salam, who said to me: "Would you like to visit a place visited by the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and we will offer you sawiq and dates?" Then he said, "when Allah gathers people o*n the Day of Judgment, He will remind them of His Blessings. O*ne 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 traveling 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 o*ne will stand before his Lord in this way, because the o*ne 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).

Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani said: "When a man faces affliction, he may pray to Allah and Allah may deliver him from adversity. Then Shaytan comes to the man and whispers, "It was not as bad as you thought." Thus the man's gratitude will be weakened."

Zazan said: "The right of Allah over the man who is enjoying His blessings is that such a man should not use His blessings in order to commit wrong actions." A man of knowledge said: "The blessing of Allah to us is in keeping the luxuries 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 a 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."

It has been said: "Gratitude is giving up wrong action." Ibn al Mubarak said: "Sufyan said: "He does not understand religion properly who does not count affliction as a blessing and ease as a disaster.""