He is indeed exultant and boastful.”

“Except for those who are patient and do righteous deeds; they will have forgiveness and a great reward.”

Another reason is that a person enjoying prosperity has greater need of gratitude, while a person facing adversity has greater need of patience. Patience is obligatory for the latter, and gratitude for the former. Whoever neglects this obligation deserves punishment.

As for patience in prosperity, it may be recommended when it involves refraining from excessive indulgence in desires. It may also be obligatory. Yet because of the gratitude he shows—which constitutes good deeds—Allah forgives some of his sins.

Likewise, for a person facing adversity, gratitude is not recommended when it is gratitude through which he becomes one of the foremost, those brought near to Allah. His shortcomings in gratitude may be forgiven on account of the patience he exercises.

Patience and gratitude come together when a person experiences both pain and pleasure: he bears the pain patiently and gives thanks for the blessings. This is a state that many people find difficult to attain. A fuller discussion of this belongs elsewhere.

The point here is that Allah, the Exalted, bestows blessings through all of this, even though most people do not initially perceive it as a blessing. Allah knows, whereas you do not know. Everything Allah does is therefore a blessing from Him.

As for a person’s sins, they come from himself. Yet even these are—with