Bismillāh.
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ
Certainly, We gave Luqmān wisdom, saying, ‘Give thanks to Allah; and whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for his own sake. And whoever is ungrateful, [let him know that] Allah is indeed all-Sufficient, all-Praiseworthy.’
(Sūrat Luqmān No. 31, Āyat 12)
One of the wise individuals who lived prior to the advent of Islam and is recalled with praise in the Noble Quran and narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) is Luqmān, the wise. In one narration from the Messenger of Allah sallal-lāhu ‘alayhi wa-ālihi wasallam it is explicitly mentioned that Luqmān was not a prophet but rather he was a servant who used to ponder a lot and had attained a station of certainty. He loved Allah ‘azza wajall and Allah loved him too; thus, Allah favored him by giving him hikmah.
The word ‘hikmah’ which is mentioned in this verse must not be confused with the modern-day usage of the word to refer to the intellectual sciences such as Islamic philosophy. Rather, in the Quran hikmah is used for a deep-rooted, strong and beneficial understanding of reality. Not an understanding that is shaky, nor an understanding based on following and imitating others.
In the 31st chapter of the Quran, Sūrat Luqmān, almost an entire page is dedicated to recounting Luqmān’s advice to his son, the first line of which is quoted above. In this, Luqmān explains that whoever gives thanks to Allah subhānahu wata‘ālā is only going to benefit himself by doing so. Similarly, whoever is ungrateful, he is only harming himself through this ingratitude. For this reason, the end of the verse says Allah is all-sufficient and all-praiseworthy, meaning that He does not benefit from our thanks, nor is He harmed by our ingratitude. The benefits and harms of all these come back to us.
The great mystic and exegete of the Quran, ‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī, makes a subtle point here regarding the tense of the verbs. He says that the verb indicating giving thanks comes in the present tense (yashkur) since giving thanks must be an ongoing and continuous act by man. On the other hand, the verb about ingratitude (kafara) is past tense because a single instance of ingratitude is enough to nullify man’s actions!
One of the teachings of the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt ‘alayhimus-salām that—if only it was implemented—would bring about tranquility, calmness and happiness in this world as well as success in the hereafter, is to be constantly grateful. If we reflect on our lives, we will realize that everyone has their own problems and difficulties. God has created this world of multiplicity such that its nature is like this, it has been encompassed by pain and problems. Of course, this does not mean we surrender ourselves to the problems of life and not strive in a rational and permissible manner to remove them. But at the same time such difficulties are a reality that we cannot always remove. They must not lead us to become bitter and negative, always regarding the cup as being half empty, and comparing ourselves to others whom we think are better off than us. We should train ourselves to be positive and thankful servants of God, who show our thanks to God and His creatures through our tongue and more importantly through our actions. We would then succeed both in this world and the hereafter.
In a narration from Imam Ali ‘alayhis-salām it is mentioned that: Allah does not bestow a blessing upon His servant that the servant thanks Him for, from [the bottom of] his heart, except that before he expresses his thanks with his tongue, he deserves an increase in that blessing.
We pray to Allah that He blesses us with the ability to be His thankful servants. We pray to Allah by the sake of Imam al-Husayn (a) whom we are mourning in these days of Muharram, that He sweetens our life by allowing us to recognize, recount and value His endless blessings and not be negative and pessimistic people, whose hearts are filled with ingratitude and rancour.
Sources: Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Sīreh-ye Payambarān dar Qur’ān (Tafsīr-e Mawdu’ī, v. 7)