The Fifth Matter,
which is the Fifth Part
On Thanks
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Will they not then give thanks?(36:35, 73) * Will they not then give thanks? * And we shall surely reward those who give thanks.(3:145) * If you give thanks, I shall increase [my favours] to you.(14:7) * Worship God and be of those who give thanks.(39:66)
By repeating verses like these, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition shows that thanks is what the Most Merciful Creator wants most from His servants. The Qur’an, the All-Wise Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood, calls on men to offer thanks, giving it the greatest importance. It shows ingratitude to be a denial of bounties and in Sura al-Rahman utters a fearsomely severe threat thirty-three times with the verse,
So which of the favours of your Sustainer do you deny?(55:13, etc.)
It shows ingratitude to be denial and negation.
Indeed, just as the All-Wise Qur’an shows thanks to be the result of creation; so the universe, which is a mighty Qur’an, shows the most important result of the world’s creation to be thanks. For if the universe is observed carefully, it is seen from the way it is arranged that everything results in thanks; each looks to thanks to an extent and is turned towards it. It is as though thanks is the most important fruit of the tree of creation, and gratitude is the most elevated product of the factory of the universe. The reason for this is as follows:
We see in the creation of the world that its beings are arranged as though in a circle with life as its central point. All beings look to life, and serve life, and produce the necessities of life. That is to say, the One who created the universe chose life from it, giving it preference.