Truly knowing Allah plays an important role in man’s awareness. It affects believing in Allah. It affects fearing Him and obeying Him. It affects opening up to His love and mercy. It helps us understand the secret behind being His servant. It allows us to depict His magnificence and perfection in all His sublime traits and beautiful names. We come to know all that He should be thanked and praised for.
Allah made us aware of all that. He did this through the means He gave us. He instilled awareness in our senses and minds. He sent Divine messages with His prophets. All the doors to knowledge were widely open before us. We knew how to conceptualize Him. We knew how to seek Him and worship Him. We knew how to submit to Him and abide by His rulings. This achieves our happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. All praise is to Him for that.
Gratitude should go hand in hand with the mind, heart, and movement of man in life. It comes from being aware of all the graces in the world. We must be aware of their necessity for the world's continuity. Allah inspired this and made it clear to us. We should be grateful to Him for all His graces. Our gratitude should be aware and open. Praise be to Him for all that. Praise be for His Divinity that He introduced us to. It looks after its servants. It makes them ascend to the highest levels of perfection. They eventually reach the utmost level. Their happiness in this world lies there. It leads them to their happiness in the Hereafter. We have come to realize that we have a Lord. He takes care of us and handles our affairs. He bestows His graces, kindness, and mercy upon us. He shelters us with His justice and pardon on the Judgment Day. It is the day we shall all meet Him.
Praise be to Him for all He guided us to. He guided us to be fully devoted to His Oneness. Our innermost is flourished with its sanctity and truth. We came to confess in our intellectual awareness that He is the One and Only God. He has no partner. He has no opposition in His Kingdom. He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Bestower, the Ruler, and the Guardian of everything. We devotedly professed His Oneness in our minds, hearts, feelings, and lives. There was no one other than Him. So how can we not be devoted to Him? How can we follow the darkness of nothingness that has no horizon and limit? How can we not believe in Him? How can we doubt His Godliness? He is the light that no darkness follows. He is the right that no falsehood approaches. He is the all-clear and the all-pure.
We praise Him for all that. By that praise, we seek closeness to Him. It represents true faith in Him. It represents love for Him. It represents the quest for His mercy and closeness. It prolongs our life by being with those who praise Him. We race to attain His satisfaction and pardon. We seek the spirituality of His light flourishing the entire existence. He would light up the darkness we encounter in Al-Barzakh. This is the phase between the end of one’s life and the beginning of the Judgment Day. All dead spirits are gathered there. Allah says: "And before them is a barrier until the Day they are raised." (Surah Al-Mu'minun - 23:100) This is also mentioned in some traditions of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.). He would facilitate our path to resurrection. This is our final journey from our graves to the day we shall all be gathered for reckoning. The road would be flourished with His mercy and satisfaction. We would not feel tired or exhausted. We would attain the highest degrees of honor. We would have an elevated status as we encounter the witnesses. They shall testify for or against people, each according to his deeds. We would achieve victory as promised by Allah. "Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand." (Surah Ghafir - 40:51) We would rise bare of everything except our good deeds. We would have a big hope in Allah’s mercy and satisfaction. No one would be able to save us from the chastisement if Allah destines us to it. "The Day when no friend will avail a friend at all, nor will they be helped." (Surah Ad-Dukhan - 44:41)
This praise we express to Allah would elevate us. We would reach the highest statuses in a Register, fully inscribed. Those Nearest to Allah bear witness to it. We would experience the spirituality of the closeness of the soul. We would feel the joy of love for Allah. He grants us His love and closeness in that Upper World. There, Allah is manifested to His praising and thanking believing servants. He would flourish them with His mercy, kindness, and satisfaction. He would overwhelm them with spiritual happiness. No eye has seen it. No ear has heard it. No heart has felt it.
Our souls would then rest reassured. Our eyes would glow as they overlook the wide horizon ahead. They would look with tranquility and serenity. This is on the day eyes shall face dreadful fear. It is the day some faces shall turn white from spiritual joy. Their faces are illuminated by the joyful good results. The believers attain this by being worthy of Allah’s heaven and pleasure. It is the day some faces and skin shall turn black. This is because they disbelieved in Allah. They rebelled against Him and deviated from His straight path. They face a dreadful destiny. Allah’s wrath and fire are inflicted on them.
The results of expressing praise to Allah save us from His chastising fire. It brings us closer to Him. Praise signifies deep and strong belief in Allah. It means indulging in His blessings and being fully obedient to Him. We would become among those who praise Allah. We would be worthy of His satisfaction and closeness. We would compete with the close angels roaming in Heaven. They glorify and praise Him. We would join the sent prophets. They opened up, through their messages, to every aspect of praise to Him. They opened the minds and hearts to Him. They praised, glorified, exalted, and extolled Him. Thus, they dwelled in the eternal, never-ending abode. It is the place of their unchanging, everlasting dignity.
Source: Extracted from the book “Afaq Ar-Rouh (Spiritual Horizons)”
Truly knowing Allah plays an important role in man’s awareness. It affects believing in Allah. It affects fearing Him and obeying Him. It affects opening up to His love and mercy. It helps us understand the secret behind being His servant. It allows us to depict His magnificence and perfection in all His sublime traits and beautiful names. We come to know all that He should be thanked and praised for.
Allah made us aware of all that. He did this through the means He gave us. He instilled awareness in our senses and minds. He sent Divine messages with His prophets. All the doors to knowledge were widely open before us. We knew how to conceptualize Him. We knew how to seek Him and worship Him. We knew how to submit to Him and abide by His rulings. This achieves our happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. All praise is to Him for that.
Gratitude should go hand in hand with the mind, heart, and movement of man in life. It comes from being aware of all the graces in the world. We must be aware of their necessity for the world's continuity. Allah inspired this and made it clear to us. We should be grateful to Him for all His graces. Our gratitude should be aware and open. Praise be to Him for all that. Praise be for His Divinity that He introduced us to. It looks after its servants. It makes them ascend to the highest levels of perfection. They eventually reach the utmost level. Their happiness in this world lies there. It leads them to their happiness in the Hereafter. We have come to realize that we have a Lord. He takes care of us and handles our affairs. He bestows His graces, kindness, and mercy upon us. He shelters us with His justice and pardon on the Judgment Day. It is the day we shall all meet Him.
Praise be to Him for all He guided us to. He guided us to be fully devoted to His Oneness. Our innermost is flourished with its sanctity and truth. We came to confess in our intellectual awareness that He is the One and Only God. He has no partner. He has no opposition in His Kingdom. He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Bestower, the Ruler, and the Guardian of everything. We devotedly professed His Oneness in our minds, hearts, feelings, and lives. There was no one other than Him. So how can we not be devoted to Him? How can we follow the darkness of nothingness that has no horizon and limit? How can we not believe in Him? How can we doubt His Godliness? He is the light that no darkness follows. He is the right that no falsehood approaches. He is the all-clear and the all-pure.
We praise Him for all that. By that praise, we seek closeness to Him. It represents true faith in Him. It represents love for Him. It represents the quest for His mercy and closeness. It prolongs our life by being with those who praise Him. We race to attain His satisfaction and pardon. We seek the spirituality of His light flourishing the entire existence. He would light up the darkness we encounter in Al-Barzakh. This is the phase between the end of one’s life and the beginning of the Judgment Day. All dead spirits are gathered there. Allah says: "And before them is a barrier until the Day they are raised." (Surah Al-Mu'minun - 23:100) This is also mentioned in some traditions of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.). He would facilitate our path to resurrection. This is our final journey from our graves to the day we shall all be gathered for reckoning. The road would be flourished with His mercy and satisfaction. We would not feel tired or exhausted. We would attain the highest degrees of honor. We would have an elevated status as we encounter the witnesses. They shall testify for or against people, each according to his deeds. We would achieve victory as promised by Allah. "Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand." (Surah Ghafir - 40:51) We would rise bare of everything except our good deeds. We would have a big hope in Allah’s mercy and satisfaction. No one would be able to save us from the chastisement if Allah destines us to it. "The Day when no friend will avail a friend at all, nor will they be helped." (Surah Ad-Dukhan - 44:41)
This praise we express to Allah would elevate us. We would reach the highest statuses in a Register, fully inscribed. Those Nearest to Allah bear witness to it. We would experience the spirituality of the closeness of the soul. We would feel the joy of love for Allah. He grants us His love and closeness in that Upper World. There, Allah is manifested to His praising and thanking believing servants. He would flourish them with His mercy, kindness, and satisfaction. He would overwhelm them with spiritual happiness. No eye has seen it. No ear has heard it. No heart has felt it.
Our souls would then rest reassured. Our eyes would glow as they overlook the wide horizon ahead. They would look with tranquility and serenity. This is on the day eyes shall face dreadful fear. It is the day some faces shall turn white from spiritual joy. Their faces are illuminated by the joyful good results. The believers attain this by being worthy of Allah’s heaven and pleasure. It is the day some faces and skin shall turn black. This is because they disbelieved in Allah. They rebelled against Him and deviated from His straight path. They face a dreadful destiny. Allah’s wrath and fire are inflicted on them.
The results of expressing praise to Allah save us from His chastising fire. It brings us closer to Him. Praise signifies deep and strong belief in Allah. It means indulging in His blessings and being fully obedient to Him. We would become among those who praise Allah. We would be worthy of His satisfaction and closeness. We would compete with the close angels roaming in Heaven. They glorify and praise Him. We would join the sent prophets. They opened up, through their messages, to every aspect of praise to Him. They opened the minds and hearts to Him. They praised, glorified, exalted, and extolled Him. Thus, they dwelled in the eternal, never-ending abode. It is the place of their unchanging, everlasting dignity.
Source: Extracted from the book “Afaq Ar-Rouh (Spiritual Horizons)”