he should enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, or offer his brothers every measure of help and kindness he can. All of these are rich avenues of goodness that often slip away from us to no purpose. The intelligent person, therefore, is the one who seizes every opportunity—the opportunity of health and the opportunity of free time.

This also shows that Allah’s blessings vary in rank, some surpassing others. The greatest favor Allah grants a servant is the blessing of Islam—a blessing from which Allah has kept many people astray. Allah the Exalted says: “Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen Islam for you as religion” (al-Maʾida 5:3). If a person finds that Allah has favored him with Islam and opened his heart to it, that is the loftiest of blessings.

Second comes the blessing of intellect. When one sees someone afflicted in his mind, unable to act soundly and perhaps even harming himself and his family, he should praise Allah for the gift of a sound mind, for it is indeed a magnificent blessing.

Third is the blessing of security in one’s homeland, which is among the greatest favors. Consider the grave fears our fathers and grandfathers once experienced in these very lands: we hear that when one of them went out for the dawn prayer, he would not leave without carrying his weapon, fearing an assault. Think also of the Gulf War that ended last year—how frightened people were! They sealed their windows with wax for fear of some imagined substance that might be hurled at them, and they lived in deep anxiety. Truly, no blessing rivals the blessing of security except those of Islam and sound reason.

Fourth: among the favors Allah has granted us—especially in this land—is comfortable