Bismillāh.
Imam al-Sādiq (peace be upon him) has said: “The beginning of the year is the Night of Qadr. In it is written what shall transpire from one year to the next year.”
Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 93, p. 3444
وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
…and so that you may magnify Allah for guiding you, perchance you may give thanks.
Sūrat al-Baqarah, No. 2, Āyat 185
The above verse is the end of verse number 185 from Sūrat al-Baqarah. As was explained in a previous reflection (#772), verses 183-185 of Sūrat al-Baqarah were revealed at one time, and do not contradict one another despite what some exegetes have said. The first two verses prepare the believers for the difficult obligation of fasting in the month of Ramadān, and that obligation is then clearly legislated in the third verse. The content revealed in these three verses are very much connected: verse 183 first mentions the obligation of fasting, verse 184 goes on to say that this obligation is for but a few days, and verse 185 clarifies that these days are the holy month of Ramadān.
The end of verse 185, quoted above, adds two more points. Even though prior to these two points, the verse was discussing how the sick and the traveller are exempt from fasting, these two points are unrelated to this exemption. Rather, they refer back to the original obligation of fasting in the month of Ramadān.
The first point is that fasting has been legislated in the moth of Ramadān and the noble Qur’ān has also been revealed it, “so that you may magnify Allah.” The idea of the particle laam, translated as “so that”, is that this action of magnifying Allah is the consequence, it is what comes after fasting. Perhaps the idea here–and Allah knows best–is that fasting itself is a means of magnifying Allah, a means of declaring His greatness. Moreover, because the revelation of the Qur’ān was also mentioned in this verse, we can say that it has a role in the point being made: this magnifying of Allah is done by Muslims who recognize the lordship and greatness of Allah through the means of the Qur’ān.
The second point made at the end of this verse is that the obligation of fasting is there so that, “perchance you may give thanks”. Note that this is similar to how when the obligation of fasting was first mentioned in verse 183, Allah said, “perchance you may attain taqwā.” The fact that Allah uses the word la‘allakum (perchance), indicates that this is a lofty goal that will not be attained by all those who fast. Allah did not say li tushakkirullāhā, which would have meant something similar, on the same pattern as the last point. Rather, He added this word la‘allakum. This is because it is easier to magnify Allah than it is to be amongst those who are thankful to Him. Those who are thankful are those who truly and sincerely fast, those who make use of this divinely sanctioned means of self-purification and abstinence from the lowly pleasures of the world to turn towards Allah and the immaterial perfections of the other worlds.
In these final days and nights of the blessed month of Ramadān, we pray that Allah makes us from amongst those who sincerely fast and thereby give thanks to Allah. We pray that we can use this opportunity to train ourselves to stay far from sins until the end of our lives, for it is such spiritual happiness that we must seek and enjoy in on the day of ‘īd. Amīr al-Mu’minīn (peace be upon him):
Indeed it is only an ‘īd for the one whom Allah accepted his fasting, and appreciated his standing [in prayer]. And every day that Allah is not disobeyed is indeed an ‘īd.
Lastly, we ask Allah that the suffering and bloodshed that the Muslim ummah is afflicted by comes to a lasting end as soon as possible, and that justice is served to the oppressors.
Sources: Allāmah Tabātabā’ī, Al-Mīzān.