| 1 |
O God,
no one reaches a limit in
thanking Thee
without
acquiring that of Thy beneficence
which
enjoins upon him thanksgiving, |
| 2 |
nor
does anyone reach a degree in obeying Thee,
even
if he strives,
without
falling short of what Thou deservest
because
of Thy bounty. |
| 3 |
The
most thankful of Thy servants
has
not the capacity to thank Thee,
and
the most worshipful of them
falls
short of obeying Thee. |
| 4 |
To
none of them is due
Thy
forgiveness through what he himself deserves
or
Thy good pleasure for his own merit. |
| 5 |
When
Thou forgivest someone,
it
is through Thy graciousness,
and
when Thou art pleased with someone,
it
is through Thy bounty. |
| 6 |
Thou
showest gratitude
for
the paltry for which Thou showest gratitude148
and
Thou rewardest
the
small act in which Thou art obeyed,
so that it seems as if Thy
servants' thanksgiving
for
which Thou hast made incumbent their reward
and
made great their repayment
is
an affair
from
which they could have held back without Thee,
and
hence Thou wilt recompense them,
and
whose cause is not in Thy hand,
and
hence Thou wilt repay them. |
| 7 |
Nay,
my God, Thou hadst power over their affair
before
they had power to worship Thee,
and
Thou hadst prepared their reward
before
they began to obey Thee;
and
that because Thy wont is bestowal of bounty,
Thy
custom beneficence,
Thy
way pardon. |
| 8 |
So
all creatures confess
that
Thou wrongest not him whom Thou punishest
and
bear witness
that
Thou bestowest bounty upon him whom Thou pardonest.
Each admits
that
he has fallen short of what Thou meritest. |
| 9 |
Had
Satan not misled them from Thy obedience,
no
disobeyer would have disobeyed Thee,
and
had he not shown falsehood to them in the likeness of truth
no
strayer would have gone astray from Thy path. |
| 10 |
So glory be to Thee!
How manifest is Thy generosity
in
dealing with him who obeys or disobeys Thee!
Thou showest gratitude to the
obedient
for
that which Thou undertakest for him,
and
Thou grantest a respite to the disobedient
in
that within which Thou art able to hurry him. |
| 11 |
Thou
givest to each of them
that which is not his due,
and
Thou bestowest bounty upon each
in
that wherein his works fall short. |
| 12 |
Wert
Thou to counterbalance for the obedient servant
that
which Thou Thyself hadst undertaken,
he would be on the point of
losing Thy reward
and
seeing the end of Thy favour,
but through Thy generosity
Thou hast repaid him
for
a short, perishing term
with
a long, everlasting term,
and for a near, vanishing limit
with an extended, abiding limit. |
| 13 |
Then
Thou dost not visit him with a settling of accounts
for Thy provision
through
which he gained strength to obey Thee,
nor dost Thou force him to
make reckonings
for
the organs he employed
to
find the means to Thy forgiveness.
Wert Thou to do that to him,
it would take away
everything for which he had laboured
and
all wherein he had exerted himself
as
repayment for the smallest of Thy benefits
and
kindnesses,
and
he would remain hostage before Thee
for
Thy other favours.
So how can he deserve
something of Thy reward?
Indeed,
how? |
| 14 |
This, my God, is the state of him who obeys Thee
and
the path of him who worships Thee.
But as for him who disobeys
Thy command
and
goes against Thy prohibition,
Thou
dost not hurry him to Thy vengeance,
so that he may seek to replace
his
state in disobeying Thee
with
the state of turning back to obey Thee,
though he deserved from the
time he set out to disobey Thee
every punishment which Thou hast prepared
for
all Thy creatures. |
| 15 |
Through
each chastisement
which
Thou hast kept back from him
and each penalty of Thy
vengeance and Thy punishment
which
Thou hast delayed from him,
Thou hast refrained from Thy
right
and
shown good pleasure
in
place of what Thou hast made obligatory. |
| 16 |
So
who is more generous, my God, than Thou?
And
who is more wretched than he who perishes
in
spite of Thee?
Indeed,
who?
Thou art too blessed to be
described
by
any but beneficence
and
too generous for any but justice
to
be feared from Thee!
There is no dread that Thou
wilt be unjust
toward
him who disobeys Thee,
nor
any fear of Thy neglecting to reward
him
who satisfies Thee.149
So bless Muhammad and his
Household,
give
me my hope,
and
increase me in that of Thy guidance
through
which I may be successful in my works!
Surely Thou art All-kind,
Generous. |