بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ

SHUKR – THANKS - 11

1. Shukr is to express the feelings such as gratitude and love towards the One Who grants the ni’mahs by words and by action.

Question: We give a price to people who are tray-bearers. I  wonder what price Allah, Who is the true Owner of the goods, wants?

The Answer: Yes, the price the True Mun’im wants in return for those valuable ni’mahs and goods is three things.

One is dhikr, another is shukr and the other is tafakkur. "Bismillah" at the beginning is dhikr. "Alhamdulillah" at the end is shukr. In the middle, thinking and understanding that those precious ni’mahs, which are wonders of art, are the miracles of qoudrah and the gifts of rahmah of Al-Ahad, Who is Samad, is tafakkur. How foolish it is to kiss the foot of a poor man, who conveys a precious gift of a sultân to you, and not recognise the owner of the gift; so praising and loving the things that outwardly give the ni’mah and forgetting the True Mun’im is a thousand times more foolish than that.

O nafs! If you do not want to be such a fool, give in the name of Allah, take in the name of Allah, begin in the name of Allah and act in the name of Allah. Wassalâm!

 The First Word

 

Know that if you were the true owner of yourself and your property, the fear of taking care of, protecting and owning would make your life miserable. Al-Mun’im, Who is Karîm, guarantees all the necessary ni’mahs for you. The only thing entrusted to you is to be blessed with, to enjoy the abundant ni’mahs on the table of His favours, and to offer shukr for them. Shukr increases the pleasure of ni’mah because it is to see the act of giving ni’mah within the ni’mah. Seeing the act of giving ni’mah removes the grief arising from the disappearance of ni’mah, as its disappearance ends not in non-existence; therefore, it will not give pain. It is to make room for the new ones, like fruits, and this gives the pleasure of renewal within ni’mah. وَ آخِرُ دَعْوَيهُمْ اَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ 2 indicates that the hamd itself is a pleasure.

The meaning and mystery of the hamd is to see the tree of the bestowal of ni’mah within the fruit of ni’mah. And this removes the pain from the thought of their disappearance and gives one pure pleasure within the hamd.

Al-Mathnawi al-Nuri (269)

2. Man is responsible for offering universal shukr:

Also, do not say, "I am nothing. What importance do I have that the universe should be purposefully subjected to me by the Absolute Hakîm, and a universal shukr would be required of me?"

Because, regarding duty and rank, you are an attentive spectator of this majestic universe, a speaking tongue possessing balâghat of these beings full of hikmah, an intelligent reader of this book of ‘âlam, an astonished supervisor of these creatures offering tasbîh and a respectful foreman of these artful creatures performing ‘ibâdah, although you are nothing regarding your nafs and form.

Yes, O man! Regarding your vegetable physical being and your animal nafs, you are a minor particle, a despicable particular, a poor creature and a weak animal that you are shaken amidst the waves of terrifying beings flowing like a flood, but when you are perfected through the tarbiyyah of Islam illuminated with the nûr of îmân that comprises the nûr of love for Allah, you are a sultân regarding humanity and being an ‘abd; within your particularity, you are a universal; within your smallness, you are an ‘âlam, and within your despicableness, you are a supervisor whose rank is so high and whose sphere of supervision is so extensive that you can say, "My Rabb, Who is Rahîm, has made the world a house for me. He made the sun and moon lamps for my house, the spring a bunch of flowers, the summer a table of ni’mah and the animals my servants; He has made plants the ornamented provisions of my house.”

The conclusion: If you heed nafs and shaytan, you fall into the asfal sâfilîn, but if you heed Al-Haqq and the Qur'an, you rise to the a’lâ ‘illiyyin and become a beautiful form (ahsan taqwîm) of the universe.

The Twenty-Third Word/2nd Discussion/4th Subtle Point

 

O nafs! ‘Ubûdiyyah is not the cause of the rewards that will be given to you but rather the result of ni’mahs already given to you. Yes, we have received our wage and are assigned to a service and ‘ubûdiyyah accordingly. Because, o nafs, Al-Khâliq Zuljalâl, Who clothed you with existence, which is pure khayr, has placed before you all foods on a table of ni’mahs through His name Razzâq since He has given you a stomach full of appetite. Then, He has given you a life possessing the faculty of perception, and that life, too, requires rizq, like a stomach. All your senses, such as eyes and ears, are like hands before which He has placed a table of ni’mah as broad as the face of the earth. Then, He has given you humanity that requires many ma’nawî rizq and ni’mah, and before that stomach of humanity, He has laid out an extensive table of ni’mah as broad as al-‘âlam al-mulk and al-‘âlam al-malakût that the hand of the mind can reach. Then, He has given you Islam and îmân that are the supreme humanity and nourished with endless fruits of rahmah and require infinite ni’mahs, and He has opened for you a table of ni’mah, pleasure and happiness that comprehends the sphere of asma al-husna and sacred attributes together with the sphere of contingency. Then, by giving you love that is a nûr of îmân, He has bestowed on you endless tables of ni’mah, happiness and pleasure. That is to say, regarding your physical being, you are an insignificant, weak, impotent, lowly, restricted and limited particular; through His bestowal, you arose from being an insignificant particular to a universal and luminous whole because by giving you life, He has elevated you from particularity to a kind of universality, by giving you humanity to true universality, by giving Islam to an exalted, luminous universality, and by giving you ma’rifat and love, He has elevated you to an encompassing nûr.

Thus, o nafs! You have received this wage and are responsible for a pleasurable, bountiful, easy and light service, such as ‘ubûdiyyah, but you are lazy too do it. Even if you perform it half-heartedly, you want greater things in a domineering manner as if the former wages are insufficient. Also, you are complaining, "Why was not my du’â accepted?" Indeed, your right is not to complain but supplicate. Through His pure fadl and munificence, Janâb-i Haqq bestows Jannah and eternal happiness. Therefore seek refuge in His rahmah and munificence constantly. Trust in Him and heed this decree:

قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذٰ لِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ3

If you say: "How can I respond to these infinite and universal ni’mahs with my limited and particular shukr?"

The Answer: With a universal intention and infinite belief... For example, a man enters the sultân's presence with a gift worth five cents, and he sees that gifts worth millions have arrived from acceptable people and have been lined up there. It comes to his heart: "My gift is nothing. What shall I do?" Then he suddenly says, "O my Sayyid! I offer you all these valuable gifts in my name because you are worthy of them. If I had the power, I would have given you gifts equal to all of them." Thus, the sultân, who has no need for those gifts and receives his subjects' gifts as a sign of their loyalty and respect, receives favourably that unfortunate man's such great and universal intention and wish and the worthiness of his beautiful and elevated belief as the greatest gift.

In exactly the same way, an impotent ‘abd, in his salâh, says, "Attahîyyatu Lillâh.” That is, "I offer You in my name all the gifts of ‘ubûdiyyah that all creatures offer You through their lives. If I could, I would offer You as many tahiyyas as them because You are worthy of all of them and more." Such an intention and belief is an extremely extensive universal shukr. The seeds and grains of plants are their intentions.

And, for example, in the form of seeds in its heart, the melon utters a thousand intentions: "O my Khâliq! I want to proclaim the embroideries of Your Asmâ Al-Husnâ in many places on the earth." Since Janâb-i Haqq knows how future things will be, He accepts their intention as an ibâdah performed by action. "A Mu’min's intention is better than his actions" indicates this mystery.

Twenty-Fourth Word-Fifth Branch-2nd Fruit

 

Regarding action, deed and physical work, man is a weak animal; he is an impotent creature. The sphere of his control and ownership in this aspect is so narrow that it is as far as his hand can reach. So much so that domestic animals that give their reins to man have adopted a share of man’s weakness, impotence, and laziness; a significant difference is seen when domestic animals are compared with their wild counterparts (Like domestic goats and cattle and wild goats and cattle). However, such a man is an honoured traveller in this caravanserai (guesthouse) of the world, in terms of du'â and beseeching, acceptance and being receptive and acted upon by a doer. And he is a guest of such a Karîm that He opened His infinite treasuries of rahmah for man and subjugated His infinite, unique creatures, full of art, and His servants to him. And He opened such a large sphere for this guest that he can benefit from it and amuse himself while sightseeing and beholding it. The half of that sphere’s axis — from the centre to the outer sphere — is as far as the eyes can see, rather long and broad as the imagination can reach.

Thus, if, by relying on his ananiyyah and making worldly life his primary aim, man works for some temporary pleasures amidst the struggle for livelihood, he drowns within an extremely narrow sphere. All equipment, senses and subtle faculties given to him will complain about him, testify against him and sue him at the rising from the dead and assembling for judgment. If man knows himself to be a guest and spends the capital of his life within the sphere of permission of Al-Karîm, Whose guest he is, he works well for a long, eternal life within such a broad sphere, takes a breath and rests. Then, he can rise to a’lâ ‘illiyyin. Furthermore, all equipment and senses given to man will be pleased with him and testify in favour of him in the âkhirah.

Yes, all the wondrous equipment given to man is not for this insignificant worldly life, but rather for an eternal life of great significance because, if we compare man with animals, we see that man is very wealthy regarding equipment and senses; he is a hundred times richer than the animals. However, regarding the pleasures of life of the world and his animal life, he falls a hundred times lower than the animals because within each pleasure he receives is a trace of pain. The pains of the past, the fears of the future and the pain of each pleasure's fade spoil his pleasure and leave a trace of pain in his joy, but animals are not like that; they receive pleasure without pain and enjoy without sorrow. Neither the pains of the past hurt them nor the fears of the future frighten them. They live with ease, rest and offer shukr to their Khâliq.

That is to say, if man, who was created in the form of ahsan taqwîm, restricts his thought to the life of the world, he falls a hundred times lower than an animal, like a sparrow, even though regarding his capital he is a hundred times higher than the animals. I explained this haqiqah in another place through a comparison. It is appropriate to mention it here, so I shall repeat it. It is as follows:

Giving ten pieces of gold to one of his servants, a man commanded him, “Order a complete set of clothing made from a special fabric!” He gave a thousand pieces of gold to the second servant, placed in his pocket a note on which certain things were written and sent him to a bazaar. The first servant bought excellent clothing of the finest fabric with ten pieces of gold. Looking at the first servant and not reading the account note that was put in his pocket, the second servant madly gave a thousand pieces of gold to a shopkeeper and asked for a complete set of clothing. The unjust shopkeeper gave him a complete set of clothing of the most flimsy fabric. The wretched servant came into the presence of his lord, received severe punishment and suffered terrible torment. Thus, anyone with an iota of conscience would understand that the thousand pieces of gold given to the second servant were not for buying a set of clothing but for some important trade.

In the same way, each of man’s ma’nawî equipment and subtle faculties has developed and expanded to a degree a hundred times greater than that of the animals. For example, is there any comparison between man’s equipment and senses, like his eye that perceives all degrees of beauty, his sense of taste in the tongue that distinguishes all the varieties of particular tastes of foods, his mind that penetrates all subtleties of haqiqahs, and his heart that yearns for every sort of perfection, and the very simple senses of animals that have developed only one or two degrees? There is only this difference: animals develop more in a particular function exclusive to that animal (especially a particular sense of an animal species). But this development is specific.

Man's wealth regarding equipment is from this mystery: man's senses and feelings have greatly developed and expanded because of the mind and thought; numerous various feelings were born in him because of the multiplicity of needs; his sensitivity has divided into many different sorts; the comprehensiveness of his fitrah has become the source of desires turned towards numerous objectives; his faculties and equipment have greatly expanded because he has numerous duties belonging to his fitrah; he has been given a disposition that comprehends the seeds of all kinds of perfections since he has been created with a fitrah able to perform every sort of ‘ibâdah.

Thus, the abundance of capital and this wealth regarding equipment to such a degree were certainly not given to obtain this insignificant temporary worldly life. Rather, the fundamental duty of such a man is to see his duties turned towards infinite aims, proclaim his impotence, poverty and fault in the form of ‘ubûdiyyah, observe and witness the tasbîhât of beings with his universal eye, see the help of Ar-Rahmân within the ni’mahs and offer shukr, gaze at the miracles of the qoudrah of Ar-Rabb on the creatures, full of art, and do tafakkur with an eye that receives lessons.

The Twenty-Third Word/Third Subtle Point

3. Fitrî shukr:

Appetite and desire for rizq are a kind of fıtrî shukr, and pleasure and enjoyment are also a kind of shukr that is offered unconsciously; all animals offer such shukr, but only man transforms the essence of that fıtrî shukr through dhalâlah and kufr; he deviates from shukr to shirk.

The Risale on Shukr

4. Ma’nawî shukr:

The exquisitely beautiful adorned forms, exquisitely beautiful smells and exquisitely beautiful tastes in the ni’mahs given as rizq are the inviters of shukr; they invite living beings to desire; through such desire, they urge living beings to a sort of praise and respect and make them offer a ma’nawî shukr; they draw the attention of conscious beings and excite desire in them to praise; they encourage them to respect the ni’mahs; through this, they guide them to offer shukr verbally and by action and make them offer shukr; they make them experience the highest and sweetest pleasure and enjoyment within shukr. That is, they show that while having a brief and temporary material pleasure, through shukr, this delicious rizq and ni’mah causes one to gain the favours of Ar-Rahmân, carrying permanent, true, infinite pleasure and enjoyment. That is to say, by making one think of the infinite pleasurable favours of their Mâlik, Who is Karîm, Who is the Owner of the rahmah treasuries, they make him taste, in a ma’nawî manner, the eternal enjoyments of Jannah even in this world. Thus, although rizq is such a valuable, rich and comprehensive treasury by means of shukr, it declines infinitely due to not offering shukr.

The Risale on Shukr

 

Thus, the sawm in the noble Ramadhan is the key to a true and sincere, immense and universal shukr, because, at other times, most people, who are not under the condition of constrained necessity, cannot understand the value of many ni’mahs when they do not experience real hunger. The degree of ni’mah within a piece of dry bread is not understood by people who are full, especially if they are rich. But at the time of iftâr, the sense of taste of a mu’min testifies that dry bread is an extremely precious ni’mah of Allah for him. Everyone from the sultân to the poorest man, through understanding the value of those ni’mahs, offers a ma’nawî shukr during the noble Ramadhan. Furthermore, since he is prohibited from eating during the day, he says, "Those ni’mahs are not my possession. I am not free to eat them; it means that they are someone else’s property and bestowal. I await His command." He recognises the ni’mah to be ni’mah and offers a ma’nawî shukr. Thus, in many aspects, sawm in this way is a key to shukr, which is the true duty of man.

The Risale on Ramadhan-2nd Subtle Point

 

The sawm in the noble Ramadhan causes even the most ghâfil and rebellious people to perceive their weakness, impotence and poverty. By means of hunger, one thinks of his stomach, understands the need therein, and remembers how flimsy his weak body is. He understands how needy for mercy and compassion he is. By abandoning the pharaoh state of the nafs, he feels a desire to take refuge at the court of Allah with complete impotence and poverty, and he becomes ready to knock at the door of rahmah with the hand of a ma’nawî shukr. If ghaflah has not destroyed his heart...

The Risale on Ramadhan-5th Subtle Point

 

Janâb-i Haqq, with His glorious ulûhiyyah, His beautiful rahmah, His mighty rubûbiyyah, His generous compassion, His immense qoudrah and His subtle hikmah, has equipped and adorned the body of this tiny man with many senses and feelings, faculties and devices, various limbs and tools, different kinds of subtle faculties and things belonging to al-âlam al-ma’nâ so that through many different various devices, He may cause man to perceive, know, taste and recognise the limitless varieties of His ni’mahs, the different kinds of His bounties and the levels of His rahmah, and through these tools, He may cause man to know, taste and love the infinite kinds of manifestations of His thousand and one Names. Just as each of man's abundant tools and devices has a completely different service and ‘ubûdiyyah, so does each have completely different pleasure, pain, duty and reward.

For example, the eye beholds the beauty in forms and the varieties of the beautiful miracles of Qoudrah in al-‘âlam al-mubsirât4. Its duty is to offer shukr to its Sâni’ with a look that receives lessons. The pleasures and pains peculiar to sight are known; there is no need to describe them.

For example, the ear perceives the different kinds of sounds and their subtle songs, and the subtleties of Janâb-i Haqq's rahmah in al-‘âlam al-masmûât5. It has a different ‘ubûdiyyah, a different pleasure, as well as a different reward.

For example, the sense of smell perceives the subtleties of rahmah within the family of scents. It has a duty of shukr and a pleasure peculiar to itself. It certainly has a reward, too.

For example, the sense of taste in the tongue performs its duty of offering extremely various kinds of ma’nawî shukr through perceiving and understanding the pleasure of all foods, and so on. All faculties of man and his great and important subtle faculties, such as the heart, mind and rûh, have such various duties, pleasures and pains.

Thus, Janâb-i Haqq, Absolute Hakîm, will certainly give a reward worthy of each of the faculties He employs in man.

…

According to the nass of the Qur'an, the result in the âkhirah of the love with shukr in the sphere of the permission of Sharî’ah for delicious foods and delightful fruits is delicious foods and beautiful fruits in a form worthy of Jannah and a desireful love for those foods and fruits. So much so that the phrase Alhamdulillah you said over the fruit you eat in this world will be embodied as a fruit of Jannah and presented to you there. Here you eat fruit; there you will eat Alhamdulillah. And since you see Allah’s act of giving ni’mahs and the favour of Ar-Rahmân within ni’mah and food, that pleasurable ma’nawî shukr will be given to you in Jannah in the form of an exquisitely delicious food according to the nass of hadith and the indications of the Qur'an and as the requirement of hikmah and rahmah.

Thirty-Second Word/An Important Question