It was [Abu Bakr ibn Jahdar] ash-Shibli (may Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him) who said:
"Thankfulness [shukr] means focusing attention on the source of the benefit [mun'im], not focusing attention on the benefit [ni'ma] itself."
Someone else had this to say on the subject:
"Thankfulness [shukr] means firmly securing the bonds of that which has been found [qaid al-mawjud], and then hunting for that which is still missing [said al-mafqud]."
It was Abu 'Uthman [al-Hiri] (may Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him) who said:
"The thankfulness of the common folk [shukr al-'amma] is for food and drink and clothing, while the thankfulness of the elite [shukr al-khawass] is for the spiritual values [ma'ani] conferred upon their hearts."
Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) has told us:
And few of My servants are very thankful. (34:13)
[The Prophet] David (peace be upon him) once said:
"My God [Ilahi], how can I thank You, when my thankfulness to You [shukri la-ka] is itself a blessing from among Your gracious favors [ni'ma min ni'ami-ka]?"
So Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) conveyed to him by way of inspiration [awha ilai-h] : "Now you have thanked Me indeed! [al-ana qad shakarta-ni]."
To quote another wise saying:
"If your hand is too short to extend remuneration, let your tongue dwell at length on the expression of thanks [shukr]."
When Idris (peace be upon him) was given the good tiding of forgiveness, he is said to have asked for life. "Why?" he was asked, so he explained: "So that I may be able to thank Him, for I was previously working for forgiveness." The angel thereupon spread its wing, and carried him up to heaven.
It is said that one of the Prophets [Anbiya'] (peace be upon them all) once passed by a small stone, from which a large amount of water was gushing forth. He was astonished at the sight, but Allah caused the stone to let him know that it could speak, so he asked it about its condition. It told him: "Ever since I heard Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) speak of:
a Fire of which the fuel is men and stones. (66:6)
I have been weeping from fear of it." So that Prophet (peace be upon him) offered a prayer of supplication, pleading with Him to grant that stone asylum from the Fire. Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) thereupon conveyed to him by way of inspiration [awha ilai-h] : "I have already granted it asylum from the Fire." That Prophet then continued on his way. When he returned later on, he found that the water was still gushing from the stone, but even more copiously than on his previous visit. He was bewildered, but Allah (Exalted is He) again caused the stone to let him know that it could speak, so he said to it: "Why are you still weeping, when Allah has already forgiven you?" The stone explained: "That was the weeping of sorrow and fear, but this is the weeping of thankfulness [shukr] and joy."
In the words of another wise saying:
"One who is thankful [shakir] is in the presence of superabundance [mazid], because he is going through the experience of receiving gracious favor [ni'ma], for Allah (Exalted is He) has told us:
If you are thankful, I will surely give you more. (14:7)
"And one who is patient [sabir] is in the presence of Allah, taking shelter with Him (Exalted is He), because he is going through the experience of suffering trial and tribulation [bala']. Allah (Exalted is He) has told us:
Surely Allah is with those who are patient. (2:153)"
"Praise [hamd]," it has been said, "is for the very breaths we breathe, while thankfulness [shukr] is for the blessings of the senses."
In the words of the authentic tradition [al-khabar as-sahih] :
The first of those invited to enter the Garden of Paradise will be those who are constantly praising Allah [al-hammaduna li'llah].
"Praise [hamd]," it has also been said, "is for what He has prevented, while thankfulness [shukr] is for what He has brought into being."
The following story was told by one of the righteous:
"In the course of one of my journeys, I caught sight of an old man, who was far advanced in age, so I asked him about his condition. He responded by telling me: 'In the early part of my life, I was deeply in love with a cousin of mine, the daughter of my paternal uncle, and she was equally in love with me, so it was agreed that I should marry her. [When she entered my chamber] on the night of her bridal procession [zifaf], I said to her: 'Come, let us spend the whole of this night in worship, as a way of giving thanks to Allah [shukran li'llah] (Almighty and Glorious is He) for having brought us together.' So we performed the ritual prayer [sallaina] throughout that night, and neither of us paid any attention to the other. Then, when the second night came around, we spent the whole of it in similar fashion. This came to be our constant practice, so that now, after seventy or eighty years have gone by, we are still in that same state every night.' His wife was with him at the time, so he turned to her and asked her: 'Is that not just the way it is, O So-and-so?' To this the old woman replied: 'It is just as the old man told you.'"
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This brings us to the end of the section concerning thankfulness [shukr].
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds! [al-hamdu li'llahi Rabbi 'l-'alamin].
