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.
Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions.
How Do I Listen to others? As if everyone were my Master Speaking to me His Cherished Last Words.
But Chinese civilization has the overpowering beauty of the wholly other, and only the wholly other can inspire the deepest love and the profoundest desire to learn.
Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness. Conviviality is healing. To be healed we must come with all the other creatures to the feast of Creation. (pg.99, "The Body and the Earth")
Great minds that are healthy are never considered geniuses, while this sublime qualification is lavished on brains that are often inferior but are slightly touched by madness.
I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not a fool, which is a matter of no small difficulty.
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