141 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan said: Ḥakīm ibn Jaʿfar narrated to me, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Nūḥ, who related:

A man I met on one of the coastal frontiers said to me, “How many times have you treated Him—blessed be His Name—with something He hates, yet He has treated you with what you love?”

I replied, “Too many to count.”

He continued, “Have you ever turned to Him in your hour of distress and found Him forsake you?”

I said, “By Allah, never. Rather, He has shown me kindness and supported me.”

He asked, “Have you ever requested anything from Him and He granted it to you?”

I answered, “Has He ever withheld anything I asked of Him? I have never asked Him for anything without His granting it, nor sought His help without His aiding me.”

He said, “If a son of Adam were to do even some of these things for you, what recompense would he deserve from you?”

I replied, “I would be incapable of repaying or rewarding him adequately.”

He concluded, “Then your Lord is more deserving—indeed worthier still—that you devote yourself to Him in gratitude for His blessings upon you. He has been beneficent to you, both in the past and the present. By Allah, giving thanks to Him is easier than compensating His creatures, for He—exalted is He—is satisfied with mere praise from His servants as an expression of gratitude.”