If you do not know the blessings you have when you have them, then Allah will teach you about them by taking them away from you
Interpretation
Appreciating what you have is crucial; without gratitude, you may lose it.
This quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and valuing the blessings in our lives while we still have them. It suggests that a lack of awareness and gratitude can lead to loss, ultimately teaching us the value of these blessings through their absence, which is a profound lesson on human experience and appreciation.
In practice
In a speech about mental health and gratitude, this quote can remind people to appreciate their relationships.
Whosoever is determined to seek guidance and follow a path of right conduct must search for a shaykh from amongst those who have realization, one who follows a path methodically, who has abandoned his passions, and who has firmly established his feet in the service of his Lord.
Actions are but lifeless forms whose soul is the secret of sincerity in them
Extinction is the beginning of the path: it is traveling to God Most High. Guidance comes afterwards. What I mean by guidance is the guidance of God, as described by the Friend of God, Abraham: "Lo! I am going unto my Lord Who will guide me."
God Most High has said, "Is the reward of virtue aught save virtue?" . . . Know, O man, that the covenant of servanthood is incumbent upon you, and that the covenant of Lordship is incumbent upon His magnanimity, as He Most High has said, ". . . and fulfill your covenant, I shall fulfill My covenant."
. . . persist in that invocation until the unity of the world is subsumed for you in a single sphere, so that with the eye of your heart you will see naught in the two worlds save the One.
The most excellent of those who perform good deeds are those who most often remember God in all situations.
Evil can be opposed without being mirrored. Oppressors can be resisted without being emulated. Enemies can be neutralized without being destroyed.
I think you have to listen to the people who are deeply unhappy. You have to find the source of it and not overreact to the craziness in it.
The interior joy we feel when we have done a good deed is the nourishment the soul requires.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Impart as much as you can of your spiritual being to those who are on the road with you, and accept as something precious what comes back to you from them.
It is remarkable how long men will believe in the bottomlessness of a pond without taking the trouble to sound it.
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