A wealthy person then asked him, “What are you thanking Allah Almighty for now?” In reply, he said, “I am thanking Allah for the bounties He has given me, which I cannot gain even with all the wealth and treasure of the world.” When asked what these were, he further said, “Do you not observe your eyes, tongue, hands and feet?” (In other words, do you not see how great a favour and bounty these are from Allah Almighty?)^[1]

Dear Islamic brothers, there are many, many lessons we can learn from this. Firstly, we learn that thankfulness should not only be shown when we earn wealth or hear any good news. In fact, we learn that we should always be thankful to Allah Almighty in every state and condition.

How incredibly sad it is, however, that although we may thank Allah Almighty for worldly wealth or upon any occasion of happiness, we immediately begin complaining when we face a small worry, illness or problem. If we were to take a good long look at ourselves, we would find that the bounties, favours and blessings of our Lord can be found in each individual hair and pore of ours. There are thousands upon thousands of bounties Allah Almighty has blessed us with, and if we were to thank Him every second for the rest of our lives, it would still not be enough.

The value of these bounties can only truly be gauged when you imagine a person who was given every single treasure of the entire universe, but not given eyes, ears, hands and feet. The importance and value of the bounties granted to us by Allah Almighty can be understood if we think about what would happen to us without them.

In regard to the bounties of Allah Almighty, sadly, we do not even think about thanking Him for everything He has granted us. If you want to appreciate how great a bounty your eyes are, ask a blind person. If you want to see how great a blessing it is to have a tongue to speak with, ask