سورة ابراهيم

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): Ahmad ibn Umar said: I and Husayn ibn Thuwayr ibn Abi Fakhita came into the presence of Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him). I said to him (peace be upon him): "May I be your ransom! We were in abundance of provision and pleasantness of living, and now the situation has changed. Ask Allah the Mighty and Majestic to restore those conditions to us." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "What do you want? Do you want to be kings? Would it please you to be like Tahir and Harthama, but for your religion and beliefs to be contrary to what they are now?" I said: "By Allah, no! I would not like to have a world filled with silver and gold, if my belief were contrary to what it is now." He said: "Then whoever of you is wealthy should be grateful, for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I will surely give you more], and He also says: O family of Dawud! Give thanks [for all these blessings], but few of My servants are grateful! (Saba/13)"

Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud ibn Sarhan said: We were with Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) when Sadir al-Sayrafi entered the gathering, greeted, and sat down. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "O Sadir! Whoever has more wealth, Allah's proof against him is also greater (he has greater responsibility); and if you can, hand your wealth back to yourselves." Sadir said: "What does this mean, and how does a person pay his wealth to himself?" He said: "In this way: that you meet the needs of your religious brothers from these very possessions, and by spending your wealth remove their need." Then he said: "O Sadir! Receive Allah's blessings and take hold of them by good neighbourliness and gratitude; thank the one who has bestowed favour upon you, and bestow favour upon the one who thanks you — for if this is your way, you will deserve an increase of blessing from Allah, and from your brothers you will receive love and sincere goodwill." Then the Imam recited this verse: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I will surely give you more].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him)- Malik al-Juhani said: Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) made a will to his son Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and said: "My son! I have made you my successor after me. No one will claim the imamate between me and you except that on the Day of Resurrection Allah the Exalted will place a collar of fire around his neck. So praise Allah and thank Him for this blessing. My son, thank the one who gives you a blessing, and do good and bestow favour on the one who thanks you, for indeed no blessing whose thanks is offered will vanish, and no blessing which is denied will remain, and the happiness of a grateful person because of his gratitude is far greater than the happiness of the blessing for which the gratitude was made obligatory upon him." Then Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) recited this verse: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابِی لَشَدِیدٌ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)- Whenever Allah the Exalted gives you a blessing and you wish that blessing to endure, praise Allah abundantly and offer Him thanks, for indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُم [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)- Abu Wallad said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Is it not the case that if we thank Allah for these apparent blessings, He too, in accordance with what He has said in the Quran: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more], increases His blessings?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Yes! It is so. Whoever thanks Allah for His blessings and praises Him and knows that this blessing is from Him and not from anyone else, Allah increases His blessing upon him."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)- Any servant to whom Allah grants a blessing and who recognises its worth in his heart and praises Allah for it with his tongue, before that blessing has finished, Allah the Exalted commands an increase in his blessing, and this is the very saying of Allah in the Quran: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)- Muawiyah ibn Wahb said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Whoever is granted three things is not deprived of three things: whoever is granted [the ability to make] supplication is granted its response, whoever is granted [the ability of] gratitude is granted increase, and whoever is granted [the ability of] reliance is granted sufficiency. Allah the Exalted says in the Quran: وَ مَنْ یَتَوَکَّلْ عَلَی اللهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ [And whoever relies upon Allah, then He is sufficient for him]. (Talaq/3) And in another place He said: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more]. And in another verse He said: ادْعُونِی أَسْتَجِبْ لَکُمْ [Call upon Me, I will respond to you]. (Ghafir/60).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Fudayl ibn Yasar narrates from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "Anyone to whom Allah the Exalted has granted the ability to supplicate will not be deprived of the blessing of having his supplication answered, and anyone who has been given the tongue of gratitude will benefit from the increase of blessings." Then Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) recited this verse: وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّکُمْ لَئِن شَکَرْتُمْ لأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [And when your Lord made it known: If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Whoever is granted four things is not deprived of four things: whoever is granted supplication is not deprived of its acceptance; whoever is granted repentance is not deprived of its being accepted; whoever is granted the ability to seek forgiveness is not deprived of forgiveness; and whoever is granted gratitude is not deprived of the increase of blessings. And the Qur'an has confirmed all of these matters. Regarding supplication, the Qur'an says: "Call upon Me, I will answer [the supplication of] you!" (Ghafir/60). Regarding seeking forgiveness, it says: "Whoever does an evil deed or wrongs himself, then seeks Allah's forgiveness, will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful." (al-Nisa/110). And regarding gratitude, it says: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more]. And regarding repentance, it says: "The acceptance of repentance from Allah is only for those who commit an evil out of ignorance and then quickly repent. Allah accepts the repentance of such persons, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise." (al-Nisa/17).

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): When a portion of a blessing reaches you, do not lose all of it through little gratitude. O son of Adam! When you see that the blessings of Allah the Exalted are coming to you one after another, fear Him. Whoever is granted the ability to give thanks will not be deprived of the increase of blessings. Allah the Exalted says in the Qur'an: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more]. Beware that the blessings be taken away from you, for it is not the case that whatever is taken away returns again.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is not the case that Allah the Exalted would open the door of gratitude and close the door of the increase and abundance of blessings, for He says in the Qur'an: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Gratitude for blessings increases sustenance.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): What has been preserved of the Messenger of Allah's (peace be upon him and his family) advice to a man from the Ansar is that he said: "Remember three things from me; and hold fast to gratitude! For increase [of blessings] comes with it; because Allah the Exalted said: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِی لَشَدِیدٌ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe]."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Fazzal said: Imam Rida (peace be upon him) said: "The prostration after the obligatory prayer is for the servant's thanking Allah the Exalted for enabling him to fulfill the obligation and perform the duty, and the least dhikr permitted in that prostration is that he says three times: شُکْراً لِلهِ شُکْراً لِلهِ شُکْراً لِلهِ [Thanks be to Allah, thanks be to Allah, thanks be to Allah]." I asked: "What is the meaning of شُکْراً لِلهِ [Thanks be to Allah]?" He said: "It means this prostration is from me as thanks to Allah for the grace of serving Him and performing His obligation, and thanking Allah is a cause for the increase of blessings; and if there is any deficiency in the prayer, it is completed by this prostration."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Gratitude for a blessing is by abstaining from sins, and the perfection of gratitude is that one says: "Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (al-Fatiha/2).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whenever Allah the Exalted grants a servant a blessing, small or great, and he says: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ [Praise be to Allah], he has fulfilled the gratitude for that blessing.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Whoever praises Allah for a blessing has fulfilled its gratitude, and praising Allah for a blessing is superior and higher than the blessing itself.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Does giving thanks to Allah have a limit and boundary such that if a servant carries it out, he is counted as grateful?" He said: "Yes." I said: "What is its limit and boundary?" He said: "That he praises Allah for every blessing He has bestowed upon him, whether in family or wealth and property, and if among the blessings that Allah has granted him there is a due upon him, he discharges that due."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hammad ibn Uthman said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) came out of the mosque while his mount had gone missing. He said: "If Allah returns it to me, I will surely thank Allah in a manner worthy of Him." Not much time passed before they brought his mount. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Al-hamdu lillah [Praise be to Allah]." A person said to the Imam (peace be upon him): "May I be your ransom! Did you not say that if your mount is returned, you would thank Allah in a manner worthy of Him?!" Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Did you not hear me say: Al-hamdu lillah [Praise be to Allah]?"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The gratitude for every blessing, however great and abundant it may be, is that you praise and thank Allah for that blessing.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): On the Day of Judgement a servant will be brought and placed before the just court of the Lord. Allah will command that he be taken to the Fire. The man will say: "O my Lord! You command that I be taken to the Fire, while I used to recite the Quran." Allah will say: "I gave you blessings, but you did not give thanks for them." He will say: "O my Lord! You gave me such-and-such a blessing, and I thanked You in such-and-such a way." And so he will continue to enumerate the blessings and the thanks for them. Allah the Exalted will say to him: "My servant, you have spoken the truth, but you did not thank the one through whom I conveyed My blessing to you, and I have sworn upon Myself that I will not accept a servant's thanks for a blessing I have bestowed upon him unless he thanks the one who conveyed that blessing to him."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): In the letter which Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) wrote to Muhammad ibn Muslim al-Zuhri, admonishing him, [it is stated]: "May Allah protect us and you from tribulations and turmoil, and may He save you from the Fire of Hell. You are now in such a state that whoever knows you in this condition ought to have mercy on you. You have been endowed with heavy blessings: Allah has granted you bodily health and a long life. Since Allah the Exalted has made you learned in the Quran and knowledgeable in His religion and has taught you the Sunnah of His Prophet, He has completed His proofs upon you. For each of these blessings and proofs which He has completed upon you, He has a decree, and His decree is that He has tested your gratitude in them and has manifestly shown you His grace and generosity. In the Quran He says: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابِی لَشَدِیدٌ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe]. So consider what state you will be in on the Day of Judgement when you stand before Allah the Exalted and He asks you about His blessings — how did you fulfil their right, and how did you complete His proofs? Never suppose that Allah the Exalted will accept any excuse from you or be pleased with your shortcomings. Never, and by no means, has Allah the Exalted taken such a covenant from the scholars; rather, in the Quran He has said: You must certainly make it clear to the people and not conceal it! (Al Imran/187)"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): O Mufaddal! The skeptics know nothing of the causes and purposes of creation, and they have proved incapable of reflecting on the wise order of creation and the firmness of the work of the Pure Creator. They have not looked deeply into the varied creatures scattered across land and sea, mountain and plain, and because of the shortcomings of their knowledge they have turned to denial, and the weakness of their insight has driven them to rejection and stubbornness — to the point that they denied the createdness of things and claimed that their coming into being is without any cause, that no making or measure can be seen in them, and that no wisdom of a Planner and Maker has any place in them. May Allah destroy them, how are they turned away from the truth?! (Munafiqun/4). In their misguidance, blindness and bewilderment they are like blind men who have entered a house that has been built in the most excellent and firmest manner, adorned with the finest and most precious carpets and furnishings, and stocked with every kind of food, drink, clothing and other necessary things — and each of these has been placed in its own proper location with correct measure, wisdom and planning. These blind men move about in that house right and left, going in and out of its rooms, while their eyes see nothing of all that has been prepared in that house. And it often happens that one of them stumbles upon something that has been set in its place to meet some need, but he does not know what that thing was made for or why it has been placed in that particular spot. For that reason he becomes upset and angry, and he condemns the house and its builder. Such too is the state of those who deny creation: since they have not been able to become acquainted with the cause and reason behind phenomena, they wander bewildered through this world and cannot grasp anything of the firmness of its creation, the beauty of its craftsmanship and the wisdom by which it has been put together. Sometimes one of them comes across a thing, but because he is ignorant of its cause and reason and does not know for what its creation is intended, he hastens to condemn it, and, like the Manichaean sect, the disbelievers, the atheists and other misguided people, he counts it as wrong and mistaken. So it is fitting that whoever Allah the Exalted has favoured with the blessing of knowing Him, and whom Allah has guided to His religion, and whom He has granted the ability to reflect on the matter of creation and become aware of its subtle planning, and through this path has come to recognise the One Creator — should praise Allah the Exalted, who is his Master, abundantly. And he should ask Allah the Exalted to keep him firm-footed and to increase His blessing upon him, for Allah the Exalted says in the Quran: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابِی لَشَدِیدٌ [If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more, and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Amr al-Zubaydi said: I said to the Imam (peace be upon him): "How many kinds of kufr (disbelief) are there in the Book of Allah?" His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: "Kufr in the Quran is of five kinds: ... The third kind of kufr is ingratitude for blessings, for Allah says on the tongue of Sulayman (peace be upon him): هذا مِنْ فَضْلِ رَبِّی لِیَبْلُوَنِی أَ أَشْکُرُ أَمْ أَکْفُرُ وَ مَنْ شَکَرَ فَإِنَّما یَشْکُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَ مَنْ کَفَرَ فَإِنَّ رَبِّی غَنِیٌّ کَرِیمٌ [This is from the grace of my Lord, that He may test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for his own benefit, and whoever is ungrateful, (has harmed only himself, for) my Lord is Self-sufficient, Generous!] (Naml/40). And He said: لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزیدَنَّکُمْ وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابی لَشَدیدٌ [If you are grateful, I will surely increase you, and if you are ungrateful, indeed My punishment is severe]. And He said: فَاذْکُرُونِی أَذْکُرْکُمْ وَ اشْکُرُوا لِی وَ لا تَکْفُرُون [So remember Me, that I may remember you! And be grateful to Me, and do not be ungrateful (for My blessings)] (Baqarah/152)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Musa al-Kazim (peace be upon him) said: Amr ibn Ubayd came to the presence of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and recited this verse: إِنْ تَجْتَنِبُوا کَبائِرَ ما تُنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ [If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden] (Nisa/31). He said: "Master! I would like to know the major sins from the Quran." The Imam (peace be upon him) began to detail them, saying: "Shirk (associating partners) with Allah; by proof of this verse: إِنَّ اللهَ لا یَغْفِرُ أَنْ یُشْرَکَ بِهِ [Indeed Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him] (Nisa/48). Ingratitude for blessings; by proof of this verse: وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابِی لَشَدِیدٌ [And if you are ungrateful, indeed My punishment is severe]."