Verses about gratitude in the Quran, with the commentaries
Gratitude in the Quran — "if you are grateful, I will surely increase you", "be grateful to Me and do not deny Me", "whoever is grateful is grateful for himself", "few of My servants are grateful", and "enable me to be grateful for Your favor" — read in al-Tafsir al-Muyassar, al-Safi and al-Mizan.
Words from the root of gratitude, shukr, occur 75 times in the Quran, in 69 verses across 35 surahs. This article reads the main verses and, at each one, gives the Sunni reading of al-Tafsir al-Muyassar first, then the Shia readings of al-Safi (al-Fayd al-Kashani) and al-Mizan (al-Tabataba'i).
Quotations from the three commentaries are my renderings of the Arabic.
"If you are grateful, I will surely increase you"
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "
Al-Muyassar: Moses said to them: remember when your Lord announced emphatically — if you thank Him for His blessings He will increase you from His bounty, and if you deny God's blessing He will punish you severely. Al-Safi relays from al-Sadiq: God never blesses a servant with a blessing which he recognises in his heart and for which he praises God openly with his tongue, but before he has finished speaking more is ordered for him; and: whoever recognises God's blessing in his heart has earned more from God before he shows his thanks on his tongue. Al-Mizan: gratitude — whose reality is using the blessing in a way that recalls the giver's favour and shows His goodness, and which with God leads to faith in Him and godwariness — brings more blessing, and ingratitude severe punishment; and: the truth is that the verse shows no more than that the ungrateful is in danger from his ingratitude, since God did not state that punishment actually falls on every ingratitude.
Where they agree
All three agree that gratitude brings an increase in blessing.
Where they differ
They put the reality of gratitude differently: al-Muyassar does not go into it; al-Safi's two reports make it recognising the blessing in the heart and praising God for it with the tongue, the first placing the increase on the heart's recognition before any thanks are spoken; al-Mizan makes it using the blessing in a way that recalls the giver. They also differ on the warning: al-Muyassar says "He will punish you severely", while al-Mizan says the verse shows no more than that the ungrateful is in danger.
"Be grateful to Me and do not deny Me"
So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.
Al-Muyassar: God commanded the believers to remember Him and promised the best reward for it — praise in the highest assembly for whoever remembers Him; and: single Me out, believers, for thanks in word and deed, and do not deny My blessings to you. Al-Safi: remember Me by obedience, I will remember you with reward; be grateful to Me for what I have blessed you with, and do not deny Me by rejecting blessings and disobeying the command; and relays from the Prophet: in trial from God, patience is a duty; in His decree, acceptance is a duty; in blessing from God, gratitude is a duty. Al-Mizan: to remember them with His blessing for their remembering Him in servanthood and obedience, and to give them more for their gratitude and for not denying His blessing.
All three agree that remembrance is answered by God's remembrance, and that what is commanded is thanks for blessings and not denying them. Al-Muyassar takes God's remembrance of His servant as praise in the highest assembly, al-Safi as reward, and al-Mizan as remembering them with His blessing and giving them more for their gratitude.
"Whoever is grateful is grateful for himself"
And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom [and said], "Be grateful to Allah." And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] - then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.
Al-Muyassar: We said to him: thank God for His blessings to you; whoever thanks his Lord, the benefit returns to himself, and whoever denies His blessings, God has no need of his thanks and is praised in every state. Al-Safi: because its benefit returns to the soul — the lasting of the blessing and deserving more of it; and God is free of need, not needing thanks, and praiseworthy — worthy of praise whether praised or not. Al-Mizan: the reality of gratitude is putting blessings where they belong, so that they point to the giver's favour; the benefit of gratitude returns only to the grateful, and ingratitude harms only the ungrateful, not God; and: speaking of gratitude in the present tense, which denotes continuance, and of ingratitude in the past, which denotes a single time, suggests that gratitude benefits only with continuance, while ingratitude harms by a single instance.
All three agree that the benefit of gratitude returns to the grateful, and that God has no need of His servants' thanks and is praised in every state. Al-Safi adds that the benefit is the lasting of the blessing and deserving more of it; al-Mizan reads from the tenses that gratitude benefits with continuance.
"Few of My servants are grateful"
They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers, statues, bowls like reservoirs, and stationary kettles. [We said], "Work, O family of David, in gratitude." And few of My servants are grateful.
Al-Muyassar: We said: family of David, work in gratitude to God for what He gave you, by obeying Him and following His command; few of My servants thank God much, and David and his family were of the few. Al-Safi: the one devoted to giving thanks with his heart, tongue and limbs most of his time — and even so he does not fulfil its due, because being enabled to give thanks is a blessing that calls for further thanks without end; hence it was said: the truly grateful is the one who sees he cannot give thanks enough. Al-Mizan: that is, the one who thanks God again and again; the sentence either raises the rank of the grateful — those firm in this station are few, the rarest of people — or gives a reason, as if to say: they are few, so add to their number.
All three agree that the word in the verse means one who gives thanks much, and that such people are few. Al-Safi adds that the grateful never fulfil the due of thanks, since being enabled to give them is another blessing; al-Mizan gives two readings of the sentence.
"Enable me to be grateful for Your favor"
And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims."
Al-Muyassar: when this person reaches the peak of his bodily and mental strength and reaches forty years, he calls on his Lord: my Lord, inspire me to thank You for the blessing You gave me and my parents, make me do righteous work You are pleased with, set my offspring right for me; I have repented to You of my sins, and I am of those who submit to You. Al-Safi glosses "enable me" as inspire me. Al-Mizan: he left the blessing he asks to be inspired to thank for unqualified, so it covers outward blessings such as life, provision, awareness and will, and inward ones such as faith in God, submission, humility, reliance on Him and entrusting oneself to Him; and: gratitude adorns the outward side of deeds, while the soundness God is pleased with adorns their inward side and makes them purely His.
All three agree that the verb in "enable me" means inspire me, and that gratitude itself is something asked of God. Al-Mizan adds that the blessing in the verse is unqualified, outward and inward, and that gratitude adorns the outward side of deeds while righteous work adorns their inward side.
What the verses do not say
- They do not specify what kind of increase is promised for gratitude, or how much.
- They do not fix a form of words for giving thanks.
- They do not make God in need of His servants' thanks; its benefit returns to them.
Counted on the mushaf
- The root of shukr: 75 times in 69 verses across 35 surahs.
- "If you are grateful": once in the whole Quran.
- "Few of My servants are grateful": once.
- "Enable me to be grateful": twice, An-Naml 19 and Al-Ahqaf 15.
- "Little are you grateful": four times.
Sources
- al-Tafsir al-Muyassar — King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
- Tafsir al-Safi — al-Fayd al-Kashani.
- al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Quran — al-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn al-Tabataba'i.
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