Why Gratitude Matters in Trial

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

You know life is the test filled with trials and tribulations whether good or bad, why is the gratitude important in such situations?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

What you are carrying is real, and Allah Most High sees it. May He lighten what weighs on you and turn your trial into a means of nearness to Him.

Gratitude (shukr) matters in trial because it changes what the trial means. The same affliction, met with complaint, hardens the heart. Met with gratitude, it opens it.

Gratitude in trial is not the denial of pain. It is the heart’s refusal to forget the Giver.

The masters of the path call it the highest of the stations of certainty — for the patient one swallows the bitterness of trial, while the grateful one sees the gift hidden inside it.

The Verses of the Heart

Allah Most High has placed the call to gratitude throughout many Surahs. Each verse opens a door. The exegetes (mufassirun) walked through them.

The Promise of Increase

وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ

“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed: If you are grateful, I will surely increase you; but if you deny, indeed My punishment is severe.” [Quran 14:7]

The verse is the central promise of the religion. Imam Razi notes that the increase is unqualified for a reason — Allah Most High did not say “I will increase you in this or that,” so the believer would not limit the giving to a single category.

An increase in worldly bounty is part of it. So is an increase in faith, in nearness, in light, in beautiful states.

Ibn Ajiba, in al-Bahr al-Madid, draws out the inward reading and gives the verse its full force for the believer in trial.

He writes that gratitude here means “faith, righteous deeds, acknowledging the blessing with the tongue, and singling out the Bestower in the heart.” [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]

Then he separates the gratitude of the common believers from the gratitude of the elect:

“The gratitude of the elect is in times of both ease and hardship, so the increase during hardship is either in reward or in drawn proximity to God.” [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]

And he names the height: There is no doubt that the station of gratitude is higher than the station of patience, because the grateful one sees the blessings hidden within the folds of trials, so he meets destructive hardships with a smiling face.

He is not truly grateful until he shows gratitude in both ease and hardship, and he does not show gratitude in hardship until he actually sees it as ease, due to the spiritual openings and divine gifts he encounters within it.

In this way, the affliction turns into a blessing. This is unlike the station of patience—its possessor swallows the bitterness of patience because he has not yet ascended to witnessing the Afflicter during his affliction.

If he had ascended to witnessing Him, the afflictions would have become sweet to him. [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]

This is the answer to the question of the title, in one paragraph. Gratitude in trial turns the trial itself into a source of light.

Remembrance Paired with Gratitude

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ

“So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me, and do not deny Me.” [Quran 2:152]

The verse pairs remembrance and gratitude. The exegetes note that the pairing is not accidental. Remembrance is the soil. Gratitude is the fruit.

The one who forgets Allah Most High cannot give thanks to a Lord he is not facing. In trial, the eye narrows to the pain; remembrance is what widens it back to the Lord, and gratitude follows from that widening.

Gratitude as the Purpose of Our Faculties

وَاللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

“And Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and He made for you hearing and sight and hearts, that you may give thanks.” [Quran 16:78]

The verse grounds gratitude in the very fact of our coming into being. The exegetes are united that the purpose of the senses and the heart, named here in order, is the giving of thanks.

Every faculty is a blessing. Every blessing calls for its own thanks. In trial one or more faculty may be wounded; the others remain, and remain a summons to praise.

Gratitude Benefits the Grateful

وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ

“And whoever is grateful, his gratitude is only for himself. And whoever denies — indeed, Allah is Free of need, Praiseworthy.” [Quran 31:12]

The verse of Luqman holds the inverse of the promise. The exegetes observe that the benefit of gratitude returns wholly to the grateful one. Allah Most High is not in need of our thanks.

The believer in trial is freed by this. The gift of gratitude is its own reward, even when no outward increase has yet appeared. He does not need to wait for the answer to know that the asking has already raised him.

Every Gift Is a Test of Gratitude

هَٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي أَأَشْكُرُ أَمْ أَكْفُرُ

“This is from the favor of my Lord, to test me whether I shall be grateful or ungrateful.” [Quran 27:40]

Sulayman (peace be upon him), on receiving the throne of Bilqis in the blink of an eye, did not respond with pride but with this pause.

Imam Tabari notes that the Prophet knew the gift was a test. Imam Ibn Kathir adds that the saint among the saints sees in every gift the question Allah is asking him, and answers it with gratitude.

The verse trains the believer to read both ease and difficulty as the same examiner asking the same question.

Sufficiency from the One

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُه

“And whoever has mindfulness of Allah, He makes for him a way out, and provides for him from whence he never reckoned. And whoever puts his trust in Allah, He is enough for him.” [Quran 65:2-3]

The verse joins two states. Reliance (tawakkul) is the act of leaning. Sufficiency (hasb) is the state of being sufficed. Imam Qurtubi, in his al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Quran, explains that this sufficiency reaches beyond the world.

The one who trusts is sufficed in what comes, in what does not come, and in what is yet to come. [Qurtubi, al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Quran]

To name Allah Most High as enough is the deepest form of gratitude in trial: the believer declares he has not lost a Lord.

The Believers’ Response Inside the Battle

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ

“Those to whom the people said, ‘The people have gathered against you, so fear them,’ but it only increased them in faith, and they said, ‘Allah is enough for us, and what an excellent Guardian.’” [Quran 3:173]

The verse records the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, on the heels of Uhud. Wounded. Tired. Told the enemy was regrouping. They returned the threat with five words.

The exegetes note that the words are the same five that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said inside the fire. Imam Bukhari preserves the link in a hadith of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him:

حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ، قَالَهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ حِينَ أُلْقِيَ فِي النَّارِ، وَقَالَهَا مُحَمَّدٌ ﷺ حِينَ قَالُوا: إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا

“‘Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Guardian’ was said by Ibrahim (peace be upon him) when he was thrown into the fire. It was said by Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) when the people said to him, ‘The people have gathered against you, so fear them,’ but it only increased them in faith.” [Bukhari]

The phrase that cooled the fire for Ibrahim (peace be upon him) cooled the fear of the Companions. Both moments are moments of gratitude. To name Him as enough, in the fire and on the field, is the highest declaration the tongue can hold.

The Boundary of Complaint

إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللَّهِ

“I only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah.” [Quran 12:86]

The verse of Yaqub (peace be upon him) gives the believer the language of the soul under trial. Gratitude does not require silence about pain.

It requires that the pain be addressed to the right Listener. The complaint upward is part of gratitude. The complaint sideways is its opposite.

Allah Names Himself al-Shakur

لِيُوَفِّيَهُمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ ۚ إِنَّهُ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ

“That He may give them in full their rewards and increase them out of His bounty. Indeed, He is Forgiving and Appreciative.” [Quran 35:30]

Allah Most High names Himself al-Shakur—the One who appreciates the slightest deed and rewards beyond what was offered. The consolation is precise. The servant’s gratitude is small.

The Lord’s appreciation is vast. Even the trembling gratitude of the believer in trial is met by a Lord who never forgets a small act of thanks.

The Prophetic Teaching and The Supplication Entrusted to Mu’adh

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Mu’adh ibn Jabal (Allah be pleased with him):

يَا مُعَاذُ، وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لَأُحِبُّكَ، فَلَا تَدَعَنَّ أَنْ تَقُولَ فِي دُبُرِ كُلِّ صَلَاةٍ: اللَّهُمَّ أَعِنِّي عَلَى ذِكْرِكَ وَشُكْرِكَ وَحُسْنِ عِبَادَتِكَ

“O Mu’adh, by Allah, I love you. So do not forget to say at the end of every prayer: ‘O Allah, help me to remember You, to thank You, and to worship You in the most beautiful way.’” [Abu Dawud; Nasa’i]

Three asks. Three pillars of the religious life. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) entrusted them to the one he loved.

He did not say “remember Me, thank Me, worship Me beautifully,” as if these were within reach by effort alone. He taught us to ask for help in them.

Gratitude itself is something the believer asks for, not something he supplies.

Let this supplication close every prayer of yours, in ease and in trial alike.

The Amazing Affair of the Believer

عَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ، إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ، وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِنِ، إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ، فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ، فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ

“Amazing is the affair of the believer. All of his affairs are good for him, and this is for no one except the believer. If ease reaches him, he is grateful, and that is good for him. If hardship reaches him, he is patient, and that is good for him.” [Muslim]

The hadith refuses the lay assumption that gratitude belongs only to ease and patience only to hardship.

The Shadhili masters — and Imam Zabidi, in his great commentary on the Ihya — go further.

They observe that at the highest reach, gratitude and patience are not two doors but one: every station of certainty requires both, and one is never completed without the other. [Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin]

The believer in trial is still recipient of breath, of faith, of the One who sees when no creature does, of the very capacity to call upon Him.

Standing Until His Feet Swelled

The Mother of the Believers Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would stand in the night prayer until his feet became swollen.

When she asked why, when Allah Most High had forgiven him every fault, he answered:

أَفَلَا أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا

“Should I not, then, be a grateful servant?” [Bukhari; Muslim]

The hadith sets the standard. Forgiveness does not retire gratitude. Gratitude is the response of love.

He Has Not Thanked Allah

مَنْ لَمْ يَشْكُرِ النَّاسَ لَمْ يَشْكُرِ اللَّهَ

“He has not thanked Allah who has not thanked people.” [Abu Dawud; Tirmidhi, hasan sahih]

The hadith stitches gratitude into the social fabric. The one who stood by you in your trial is a hand of Allah Most High in your life. To thank that hand is to thank the One who moved it.

Look Below, Not Above

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “Look at those below you and not those above you. It is more fitting that you not belittle Allah’s blessings upon you.” [Bukhari; Muslim]

The hadith is the practical engine of gratitude. The eye that compares upward shrinks the gift. The eye that compares downward magnifies it.

The Seventy Thousand

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) described those who enter Paradise without reckoning:

هُمُ الَّذِينَ لَا يَسْتَرْقُونَ، وَلَا يَتَطَيَّرُونَ، وَلَا يَكْتَوُونَ، وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ

“They are those who do not seek incantations, do not believe in omens, do not use cauterization, and put their complete trust in their Lord.” [Bukhari]

The seventy thousand do not panic-shop for help when life turns sharp. They do not chase every small remedy. They turn to their Lord first, last, and in the middle. This is gratitude in trial lived as a way of being.

Tie the Camel

A man asked the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) whether he should tie his camel and trust, or leave it untied and trust. He said:

اعْقِلْهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ

“Tie it and trust in Allah.” [Tirmidhi]

The whole tradition of gratitude under trial lives inside that answer. Tie the camel. Take the medication. Make the call. Do the work. Then trust the One who decreed the outcome before you were born.

Gratitude is not the absence of effort. It is an effort lifted into Allah’s hands.

Supplications for Trial, with Their Setting

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) gave his community supplications for the difficult places. Six among them have particular weight.

First, the supplication of Yunus (peace be upon him), from the belly of the whale:

لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

“There is no god but You. Glory be to You. Indeed, I was among the wrongdoers.” [Quran 21:87]

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “No Muslim ever supplicates with this du’a in any matter except that Allah responds to him.” [Tirmidhi, sahih]

Three movements. Tawhid. Glorification.

The admission of one’s own smallness. A heart in the dark, turned toward its Lord.

Second, the supplication taught through Umm Salama (Allah be pleased with her):

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ، اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي وَأَخْلِفْ لِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا

“No Muslim is struck by a calamity and says: ‘Indeed we belong to Allah, and to Him we return. O Allah, reward me in my trial, and replace it for me with something better, except that Allah replaces it for him with what is better.” [Muslim]

She said it on the death of her husband, Abu Salama. Allah Most High then gave her, in marriage, the Messenger himself (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Third, the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in moments of distress

يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ، بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ، أَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ، وَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ

“O Living, O Sustaining, by Your mercy I seek aid. Rectify all of my affairs for me, and do not leave me to my own soul for the blink of an eye.” [Tirmidhi]

The believer in trial turns to al-Hayy al-Qayyum because His life is the life that does not die, and His sustaining is the sustaining that does not fail.

Fourth, the supplication of the burdened:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ، وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ

“O Allah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and grief, from incapacity and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, from the burden of debt and the dominance of men.” [Bukhari; Abu Dawud]

The supplication is a map of the inner trials of the human being: the emotional, the volitional, the moral, and the circumstantial.

Fifth, the seven-fold morning and evening remembrance. Abu al-Darda (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

مَنْ قَالَ حِينَ يُصْبِحُ وَحِينَ يُمْسِي: حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ، سَبْعَ مَرَّاتٍ، كَفَاهُ اللَّهُ مَا أَهَمَّهُ

“Whoever says in the morning and the evening, ‘Allah is sufficient for me. There is no deity but Him. Upon Him I rely, and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne,’ seven times, Allah will suffice him in whatever concerns him of the affairs of this world and the Hereafter.” [Abu Dawud; cited by Imam Nawawi in al-Adhkar]

The phrase is the daily medicine. Said once, it touches the surface of the heart. Said seven times, slowly, in the morning and in the evening, it reaches the place where worry lives.

Sixth, the Ta’if supplication of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), when he was rejected and wounded and had nowhere on earth to go:

إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ بِكَ غَضَبٌ عَلَيَّ فَلَا أُبَالِي

“If you are not angry with me, I do not care.” [Tabarani]

This is the highest reach of gratitude in the trial. When the whole world has refused you, the heart turns to ask only for His pleasure.

Ghazali’s Three Axes — As Expounded by Zabidi

Imam Ghazali, in his Book of Patience and Gratitude (Kitab al-Sabr wa al-Shukr) within the Ihya, sets gratitude along three axes: the heart, the tongue, and the limbs. Imam Zabidi, in his great commentary Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin, draws out the meaning with precision:

“Gratitude is manifested in the heart as submission and humility, on the tongue as praise and acknowledgment, and in the limbs as obedience and compliance.” [Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin]

He details what each axis means in practice: “The action mandated by the joy of knowing the Bestower involves the heart, the tongue, and the limbs. As for the heart, it is intending good and righteousness and harboring it for all creation.

As for the tongue, it expresses gratitude to Allah through praises, indicating it. As for the limbs, it is utilizing the blessings of Allah in His obedience and guarding against using them to aid in disobeying Him.” [Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin]

Then Imam Zabidi turns directly to the question of trial. In every trial, he writes, there are hidden blessings that warrant deep gratitude. He summarizes the relation between patience and gratitude with a striking image: “Every tribulation in worldly matters is like medicine: it pains in the present due to its bitterness, but it benefits in the end. Patience relates to the former, while gratitude relates to the latter.” [Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin]

And he names the height. The gratitude of the elite is gratitude inside the trial itself: “If one shows gratitude for that which they are enduring with patience, the tribulation has become a blessing for them, and this is superior because it is the vision of those drawn near.” [Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin]

He then warns against ever separating the two stations: “Every station among the stations of certainty requires patience and gratitude, and one is not completed without the other — because patience requires gratitude upon it to be perfected, and gratitude requires patience upon it to merit increase.” [Zabidi, Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin]

The Prophetic Exemplar and The Year of Sorrow

The Prophetic exemplar is the Year of Sorrow (am al-huzn). In that year, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) lost his uncle Abu Talib, who had been his protector.

He also lost his beloved wife Khadija (Allah be pleased with her).

He did not deny the grief—the year itself carries its name. He did not abandon gratitude. He returned to his Lord at Ta’if with the words cited above.

That is gratitude in trial—the heart still oriented to His pleasure, even when the world has refused you.

Hajar Between Two Hills

The mother of Ismail (peace be upon him) stood in a valley empty of every means. She had a nursing child. She had no water.

She had no human help in any direction. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) turned to leave. She asked, “To whom are you leaving us?” He did not answer. She asked again.

He did not answer. She asked a third question: “Has Allah commanded you to do this?” He said yes. She said:

إِذًا لَا يُضَيِّعُنَا

“Then He will not abandon us.” [Bukhari]

Then she did not stop moving. She climbed Safa. She crossed to Marwa. She crossed back. Seven times in total. At her son’s feet, water broke from the dry earth. The well of Zamzam still flows.

Hajar (peace be upon her) is the embodied face of gratitude in trial. She named the trial what it was — abandonment by every visible means. And she named the Lord what He is — the One who will not abandon. The naming of the Lord is the naming of the gift hidden inside the trial.

Fayruzabadi on Gratitude

The lexicographer Fayruzabadi, in his Insights of the People of Discernment (Basa’ir Dhawi al-Tamyiz), gathers the heart of the classical discussion in a few measured strokes.

Gratitude, he writes, is to perceive the blessing and to manifest it. It is the praise of the benefactor for the good he has given. He divides this along the three axes that Imam Ghazali develops at length.

There is gratitude of the heart, which is the perceiving of the blessing.

There is gratitude of the tongue, which is the praise of the Giver. There is gratitude for the limbs, which means using the blessing as it deserves.

He notes a striking image from the Arabs. The much-thankful (shakur) among the beasts is the animal satisfied with little fodder that grows fat upon it.

The gratitude transforms a small portion into sufficiency.

Read this as a believer in trial. The apparent blessing is little. The heart’s gratitude turns the little into nourishment.

He observes a precision in the Quranic command:

اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا

“Act, O family of Dawud, in gratitude.” [Quran 34:13]

Allah Most High did not say “be grateful.” He said, “Act in gratitude.” Gratitude binds the three axes together: heart, tongue, and limb.

He notes that Allah Most High praises only two of His prophets in the Quran with the name of gratitude. Ibrahim (peace be upon him): “grateful for His blessings.” [Quran 16:121]

And Nuh (peace be upon him): “Indeed, he was a grateful servant.” [Quran 17:3] The rarity of the name reveals the height of the station.

Then he makes the most striking claim for the question before us. Gratitude, he writes, is the highest of the stations of the wayfarers — above the station of contentment (rida).

Gratitude contains rida and adds to it. Gratitude, he adds, is half of faith.

He gathers the foundations of gratitude into five: the submission of the grateful to the One thanked; love for Him; acknowledgment of His blessing; praise of Him for it; and the refusal to use the blessing in what He dislikes.

Any defect in one is a defect in the structure of gratitude itself.

He closes with the masters of the path. From Junayd (Allah sanctify his secret): gratitude is not seeing yourself worthy of the blessing.

From Hamdun al-Qassar (Allah sanctify his secret): gratitude is to see yourself as an intruder upon it.

From Shibli (Allah sanctify his secret): gratitude is seeing the Giver, not the gift. Imam Fayruzabadi adds that the highest is to witness both, for the witnessing of the blessing draws forth the praise of the Giver.

And in an Israelite report: Dawud (peace be upon him) said, “My Lord, how shall I thank You, when my very gratitude is a blessing from You that itself requires gratitude?” Allah Most High said, “Now you have thanked Me, O Dawud.”

Three Aphorisms of Ibn Ata’illah, with the Commentators

Sayyidi Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari (Allah sanctify his secret), in his Hikam, returns to the theme of gratitude again and again.

Three of his sayings illuminate the question of trial directly. The great commentators—Imam Ahmad Zarruq in his Sharh al-Hikam, and Imam Ibn Ajiba in Iqaz al-Himam—sharpen each one in turn.

The Tether

مَنْ لَمْ يَشْكُرِ النِّعَمَ فَقَدْ تَعَرَّضَ لِزَوَالِهَا، وَمَنْ شَكَرَهَا فَقَدْ قَيَّدَهَا بِعِقَالِهَا

“Whoever does not meet blessings with gratitude has exposed them to disappearance. Whoever meets them with gratitude has bound them by their tether.” [Ibn Ata’illah, Hikam]

The image is of a camel. A blessing without gratitude is a camel unfettered — it will wander. A blessing met with gratitude is a camel hobbled at the foreleg — it stays.

Imam Ahmad Zarruq, in his Sharh al-Hikam, sharpens this with precision.

He writes that gratitude for a blessing guarantees three things: “protecting it from disappearance and change of state; increasing it in the present and blessing it in the future; and connecting the servant to his Lord in a state of well-being without disruption.

And a lack of gratitude guarantees deprivation, disturbance of the heart, and the displeasure of the Lord. The sages have said: gratitude is a tether for what is present, and a hunt for what is missing.” [Zarruq, Sharh al-Hikam]

Imam Ibn Ajiba, in Iqaz al-Himam, confirms the spiritual reality: “The statements of the sages agree on this meaning—that gratitude is the tether for what is present and the hunt for what is missing.

They also said: ‘Whoever is given a blessing and does not give thanks is stripped of it from where he does not perceive.’” [Ibn Ajiba, Iqaz al-Himam]

The believer in trial does not give thanks merely from fear of losing what remains. He gives thanks because he recognizes the One who gave it. The retention of the blessing is the consequence. The recognition is the cause.

Giving and Withholding

رُبَّمَا أَعْطَاكَ فَمَنَعَكَ، وَرُبَّمَا مَنَعَكَ فَأَعْطَاكَ

“Sometimes He gives to you while withholding from you. Sometimes He withholds from you while giving to you.” [Ibn Ata’illah, Hikam]

What looks like a giving may be the withholding of something better. What appears to be withholding may be the very gift.

Imam Zarruq, in commentary on this hikma, gives a sharp practical instruction: “If the matter is as such, then be in a state of fear and hope in both His giving and His withholding, returning to Him in refuge and total need in both, without feeling secure in either of them—for within its fold may lie the exact opposite of the form it outwardly displays.” [Zarruq, Sharh al-Hikam]

The one in trial who learns to read his withholding as a gift has crossed into gratitude. He sees the hand behind the apparent absence.

Letting Go of Self-Management

أَرِحْ نَفْسَكَ مِنَ التَّدْبِيرِ، فَمَا قَامَ بِهِ غَيْرُكَ عَنْكَ، لَا تَقُمْ بِهِ لِنَفْسِكَ

“Relieve yourself of self-management. What Someone Else has carried out on your behalf — do not undertake yourself.” [Ibn Ata’illah, Hikam]

The believer’s anxiety in trial rises from a quiet insistence on running the universe. We plan the next twenty years. We rehearse every conversation. We carry the future before it has arrived.

The cure is to act with the means in front of us, and to leave the result to the One who decreed it before we were born.

To act and then to release the outcome is gratitude embodied—the limb that does its work, and the heart that hands the rest to Him.

The Three Degrees of Gratitude — Ibn Ajiba

Imam Ibn Ajiba, in his al-Bahr al-Madid, articulates the three degrees with classical clarity:

“Gratitude is of three degrees. The degree of the commoners is gratitude for blessings. The degree of the elect is gratitude for blessings and for afflictions, and in every state. The degree of the elect of the elect is to be absent from seeing the blessing by witnessing the Bestower.” [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]

He illustrates the highest degree with the report of Ibrahim ibn Adham (Allah sanctify his secret).

When told, “The poor, when they are given, they give thanks, and when they are denied, they show patience,” Ibrahim ibn Adham replied: “That is the manner of dogs in our country.

The [true] people, when they are denied, they give thanks, and when they are given, they prefer others over themselves.” [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]

The line cuts. The lay reader thinks gratitude under denial is the high station. Ibrahim ibn Adham, on the lips of Imam Ibn Ajiba, says it is the floor. The true station is gratitude that prefers others when one is the one given.

Ibn Ajiba closes with his definition of the inward reality of gratitude: “The reality of gratitude is the opening of the eye of the heart to witness the gentle favors of the Real.

And the best definition is: the joy of the heart at the approach of the Bestower, which then flows into the limbs.” [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]

That is the answer to the question in another register. Gratitude in trial is not the manufacture of feeling. It is the opening of the eye of the heart.

The Masters of the Heart

The masters of the path describe an inward state where gratitude and trust become one motion.

Yahya ibn Mu’adh — Like an Infant with Its Mother

Yahya ibn Mu’adh al-Razi (Allah sanctify his secret) said:

لَا يَبْلُغُ الْعَبْدُ حَقِيقَةَ التَّوَكُّلِ حَتَّى يَكُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ كَالطِّفْلِ مَعَ أُمِّهِ، لَا يَعْرِفُ مَلْجَأً سِوَاهَا

“A person will not reach the reality of reliance until he is with Allah Most High like an infant with its mother. The child knows no refuge other than her.” [Abu Nu’aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’]

The infant does not strategize about whether the mother will come. The infant cries. The mother arrives. In a trial, the believer does not stop being a servant who must act. He stops pretending to be a manager who must arrange.

Hatim al-Asamm—Four Certainties

Hatim al-Asamm (Allah sanctify his secret) lived in the third Islamic century. He built his whole life on four short certainties: “My provision will not be eaten by anyone else, so my heart can rest. My duty will not be done by anyone else, so I must busy myself with it.

Death can come at any moment, so I must prepare for it. I am never out of Allah’s sight, so I will live with shyness before Him.” [Abu Nu’aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’]

Each line is a doorway into gratitude in trial. The first quiets anxious comparison. The second focuses on the day’s work. The third refuses to delay. The fourth steadies behavior when no one is watching.

Sahl al-Tustari—Trust Joined to the Means

Sahl al-Tustari (Allah sanctify his secret) said: “Whoever attacks the means has attacked the Sunna. Whoever attacks trust has attacked faith itself.” [Sulami, Tabaqat al-Sufiyya]

The believer holds both because the Beloved (Allah bless him and give him peace) held both. Trust without means is a slogan. Means without trust is exhaustion.

Imam Sha’rani on the Equal Gratitude of the People of the Path

Imam Sha’rani (Allah sanctify his secret), in al-Anwar al-Qudsiyya fi Ma’rifat Qawa’id al-Sufiyya, names the gratitude of the awliya’ as a single principle:

“It is from the way of [the people of the path] to give thanks to Allah Most High in ease and difficulty alike, because they believe that He knows their benefit better than they themselves do, and they do not ask for any increase beyond what He has given them in a day.” [Sha’rani, al-Anwar al-Qudsiyya]

The line collapses the false binary between ease and trial. The friend of Allah does not divide his gratitude.

His Lord’s knowledge of his benefit is greater than his own, and his gratitude flows from that conviction rather than from the surface of his circumstances.

In al-Kibrit al-Ahmar, Imam Sha’rani transmits the saying of the masters that the heart of the gnostic receives every event as if it were what he wanted: “He looks at everything that happens in the world and in himself, and treats it as if it were what he desired — so he takes pleasure in it, and receives it with acceptance, cheerfulness, and contentment. Such a person remains, by this state, in perpetual delight.” [Sha’rani, al-Kibrit al-Ahmar]

And in Tanbih al-Mughtarrin, he reports the saying of one of the righteous, struck by an arrow that killed him: “Praise be to Allah, who took my revenge for me upon my own soul — for how many times have you slain me, O soul.” [Sha’rani, Tanbih al-Mughtarrin]

The trial is read as a defeat of the lower self, and gratitude is the response.

Imam Nablusi’s Verses on Gratitude in Trial

Imam Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi (Allah sanctify his secret), in his Diwan, returns again and again to the steadiness of gratitude across the changing of the heart’s seasons:

لَكَ الْحَمْدُ يَا رَبَّ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ** ** وَمَنْ يُسْخِطُ الْإِنْسَانَ إِنْ شَاءَ أَوْ يُرْضِي وَشُكْرًا لَكَ اللَّهُمَّ فِي كُلِّ حَالَةٍ ** ** عَلَى الْيُسْرِ وَالْإِعْسَارِ وَالْبَسْطِ وَالْقَبْضِ

Praise be to You, O Lord of the heavens and the earth — and the One who, if He wills, displeases man or pleases him. And gratitude be to You, O Allah, in every state — upon ease and difficulty, expansion and contraction. [Nablusi, Diwan]

He then teaches the disciple how to greet hardship from within:

لَا بُدَّ لِلضِّيقِ فِي الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الْفَرَجِ ** ** فَافْتَحْ كَفُوفَ الرَّجَا وَالْحَقْ بِأَلْفِ رَجِي وَأَظْهِرِ الْبَسْطَ فِي كُلِّ الْأُمُورِ وَإِنْ ** ** ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكَ فَقُلْ يَا أَزْمَةُ انْفَرِجِي وَاشْكُرْ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ أَنْتَ فِيهِ فَمَا ** ** عَنْ حِكْمَةٍ قَدْ خَلَا أَمْرٌ إِلَيْكَ يَجِي

There must be, for every constraint in this world, a release — so open the palms of hope and join with a thousand prayers. Make expansion show in all your affairs, and if they constrain you, then say: O hardship, be released and give thanks in every state you are in, for no affair that comes to you from Him is empty of wisdom. [Nablusi, Diwan]

And he grounds the steadiness in the tawhid of action — that Allah Most High alone is the Doer, and all else is the apparent veil:

اللَّهُ حَقٌّ وَأَغْيَارُهُ عَدَمٌ بَاطِلٌ 

وَالْفَاعِلُ اللَّهُ رَبِّي السِّوَى عَاطِلٌ

Allah is real; all besides Him is non-existent and false. The Doer is Allah, my Lord; all besides Him is inactive. [Nablusi, Diwan]

The poet’s logic is exact. If the Doer is one, the believer’s gratitude does not change with the apparent change of the doer’s hand. The gift and the withholding both come from Him. So does the gratitude.

Shaykh Nuh Keller in Sea Without Shore

Shaykh Nuh Keller (may Allah preserve him), in Sea Without Shore—his exposition of the Shadhili path in our time—places gratitude at the head of the path.

The Shadhili order, he notes, is known among the Sufis as the “Way of Thanks” (Tariqa al-Shukr). [Keller, Sea Without Shore] He writes:

“More enduring than either hope or fear, whose scope ends at death, gratitude to Allah is a beatitude that lasts in paradise for eternity. Thanks for blessings means using everything Allah has given us for what it has been created for, namely, the return to Him.” [Keller, Sea Without Shore]

He frames the trial as the disciple’s curriculum, and orders the believer’s possible responses to it. Of the failing disciple, he writes: bitter and resentful.

Of the passing disciple: “proves patient with the test and lives it out.” Of the disciple who learns: “He benefits from his good by thanking Allah for it and not turning to look at it, and he benefits from his evil by heartbrokenness, repentance, and never returning to it again.”

And at the height: “If one is well contented with Allah for honoring one with tribulation, and aspires to win His good pleasure through it, then the test is a spiritual increase, and means one is already on an exalted footing — for trials are seldom except in what one holds dearest, and are proportionately harder for those of higher rank.” [Keller, Sea Without Shore]

He draws the practical lesson with one of the most quotable lines in the book:

“Suffering is a gift from Allah when it brings one back to the way of success, and often the harbinger of increase. ‘Dire needs are the feast-days of disciples.’” [Keller, Sea Without Shore, citing Ibn Ata’illah, Hikam 49]

And again:

“At the personal level, pain and loss teach man to thank God for his blessings.

Ibn Ata’illah says, ‘Whoever does not appreciate the value of blessings by having them, will appreciate it by losing them’ (al-Hikam 56: 199). And: ‘Whoever is unthankful for blessings has made himself liable to lose them, while whoever shows gratitude for them has fastened them with their true tethers’ (ibid., 29: 64).” [Keller, Sea Without Shore]

And the inversion that completes the teaching:

“Without privation we would not realize our blessings, which makes it itself a blessing.” [Keller, Sea Without Shore]

He closes by binding patience, reliance, and gratitude into a single Prophetic frame, quoting the hadith of Muslim cited above.

The point, in his rendering, is unmistakable. The believer in trial moves through patience (sabr)—the mirror of certainty—and reliance (tawakkul)—the substance of true servanthood—into the higher reach: gratitude that names the trial itself as a gift, because it has brought him closer.

Three Things in Practice

Three things help in practice.

First, name the standing gifts each morning—that you are Muslim, that you can pray, that you have a tongue to say His name.

Second, find the small mercy inside the large hardship: the one who stood by you, the door that closed before a greater harm, the prayer that became deeper because of the wound.

Third, keep your tongue from complaint to creatures while keeping it open in complaint to Allah Most High, as Yaqub (peace be upon him) did.

The Limit of What Gratitude Asks

Gratitude does not require that you call the trial good. It requires that you call the One sending it good. And it requires that you trust what reaches you from Him is wisdom you do not yet see.

The patient believes in trial, grateful for ease, walks a noble path.

The believer who is grateful in trial as well has reached the furthest station of the wayfarers—what Imam Fayruzabadi called the station above contentment, and what Imam Ibn Ajiba called the height at which the trial itself turns into a blessing.

Closing

May Allah Most High pour patience into your heart and increase your gratitude. May He gather you with those whom He praises:

إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا ۚ نِّعْمَ الْعَبْدُ ۖ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ

“Indeed, we found him patient — an excellent servant, ever-turning [to his Lord].” [Quran 38:44]

And Allah Most High knows best.

[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani