Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/297)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

The receptacles vary tremendously in their preparedness and capacity to receive. Minerals cannot take in what living creatures can; and within those two classes every kind differs in receptivity. The rational animal—humanity—does not respond as the brute beasts do, and within mankind the disparity is greatest of all. The non-rational animals likewise differ among themselves, though nowhere within a single species is the gap as wide as it is among human beings.

When the vessel is fit for a blessing—able to recognize it, to appreciate its worth and significance, to thank the One who bestowed it, to praise Him for it and exalt Him because of it, realizing that it is pure generosity and unmixed favor, undeserved by the servant and unattainable through his own power, belonging solely to Allah and granted solely by Him—then the servant dedicates the blessing to Allah alone in sincere devotion, expends it in what pleases Him as an act of gratitude, views it as a sheer gift of grace, and admits his own inadequacy and shortcoming in thanking for it, out of weakness and negligence. He knows that if Allah sustains the blessing for him, that is nothing but Allah’s charity, bounty, and kindness; and that if He removes it, the servant is indeed worthy of such removal. Whenever Allah increases him in favors he only deepens in humility, brokenness, and submission before Him, intensifies his gratitude, and fears—glorified is He—lest the blessing be withdrawn because he has fallen short in thanking for it, just as He stripped His favors from those who neither acknowledged them nor tended to them as they should.

But if the servant fails to thank for the blessing and meets it with the very opposite of what befits it, Allah will assuredly take it away.

Allah, exalted is He, says: “And thus We have tested some of them by means of others so that they might say, ‘Are these the ones whom Allah has favoured among us?’ Does not Allah know best those who are grateful?” (53) [al-Anʿām: 53]. These are the ones who recognized the value of the blessing, accepted it, loved it, praised the Benefactor for it, loved Him, and fulfilled their gratitude to Him.

He also says: “And whenever a sign comes to them, they say, ‘We will never believe until we are given the like of what was given…’”

المحالِّ متفاوتةً في الاستعداد والقبول أعظم تفاوت؛ فالجمادات لا تَقبل ما يقبله الحيوان، وكذلك النوعانِ كل نوعٍ منهما متفاوت في القبول؛ فالحيوان الناطق لا يقبل ما يقبله البهيم، وهو متفاوت في القبول أعظم تفاوت، وكذلك الحيوان البهيم متفاوت في القبول، لكن ليس بين النوع الواحد من التفاوت كما بين النوع الإنساني. فإذا كان المحلُّ قابلًا للنعمة بحيث يعرفها، ويعرف قدرها وخطرها، ويشكر المنعمَ بها، ويُثني عليه بها، ويُعظِّمه عليها، ويعلم أنها من محض الجود وعين المنّة من غير أن يكون هو مستحقًّا لها ولا هي له ولا به، وإنما هي لله وحده وبه وحده؛ فوحده بنعمته إخلاصًا، وصرفها في محبته شكرًا، وشهدها من محض جوده منةً، وعرف قصوره وتقصيره في شكرها عجزًا وضعفًا وتفريطًا، وعلِم أنه إن أدامها عليه فذلك محض صدقته وفضله وإحسانه، وإن سلبَه إياها فهو أهلٌ لذلك مستحق له، وكلما زاده من نعمه ازداد ذُلًّا له وانكسارًا وخضوعًا بين يديه وقيامًا بشكره وخشية له سبحانه أن يسلبه إياها لعدم توفيته شكرها، كما سلبَ نعمتَه عمن لم يعرفها ولم يَرْعَها حقَّ رعايتها. فإن لم يشكر نعمته وقابلها بضد ما يليق أن يقابل به سَلبَه إياها ولا بدَّ. قال تعالى: ﴿وَكَذَلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَؤُلَاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيهِمْ مِنْ بَينِنَا أَلَيسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ (٥٣)﴾ [الأنعام: ٥٣]، وهم الذين عرفوا قدر النعمة وقبلوها وأحبُّوها وأثنَوا على المنعم بها وأحبوه وقاموا بشكره. وقال تعالى: ﴿وَإِذَا جَاءَتْهُمْ آيَةٌ قَالُوا لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ حَتَّى نُؤْتَى مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ