nk beside Thy generosity toward me!
Thy favours have wrapped me in the robes of the lights of faith, and the gentlenesses of Thy goodness have let down over me delicate curtains of might!
Thy kindnesses have collared me with collars not to be moved and adorned me with neck‑rings not to be broken!
Thy boons are abundant‑my tongue is too weak to count them!
Thy favours are many my understanding falls short of grasping them, not to speak of exhausting them!
So how can I achieve thanksgiving?10
A believer who has started his spiritual journey towards God first comes to recognise God's blessings upon him in providing him with lots of supports and helps that enabled him to act. Having continued his journey and been equipped with a mystical view of the world, he will realise that every good thing, indeed, comes from God himself. We read in the Qur'an: "Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from God, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself" (4:79) There is no reason to think otherwise. The reason for inflicting unjust suffering can be one of these things or a combination of them:
Lack of power: A person who oppresses others may do so because he wants to gain something from it, or because he cannot prevent himself from doing something harmful to others.
Lack of knowledge: A person may even have good intention of benevolence, but due to lack of information or making wrong conclusions may do something that harms the recipient.
Hatred and malevolence: A person may be able to do good deeds and may also know how to do it, but he still fails to do so, because he is not kind enough to do so, or even more, because he hates the recipient and want to satisfy his anger and wrath by inflicting pain on the recipient.
Muslim thinkers argue that God never does something unjust or harmful to His servants, since there is none of the above reasons for being otherwise: He is the all‑Powerful, the all‑Knowing and the all‑Merciful.
Thus, the picture of God in Islam is the picture of one who is love, the all‑Merciful, the allCompassionate and the all‑Benevolent, one who loves His creatures more than they may ever love Him or themselves, one whose anger and wrath is out of love and preceded by love. There seems to be no difference among Muslims in believing in God who is love, though they might vary in amount of emphasise that they put on this aspect of Islamic worldview compared to others. In general, it might be said that Muslim mystics and Sufis are more concerned with this aspect of Islam than Muslim Philosophers, and Muslim philosophers in turn are more concerned than theologians. But as I mentioned earlier there is no disagreement on viewing God as who is love, the all‑Merciful and the all‑Compassionate. We read in the Qur'an that in response to Moses' request for the good life in this world and hereafter, God said: "(As for) My chastisement, I will afflict with it whom I please, and My mercy encompass all things." (7:56) We find in the Qur'an that a group of angels who bear the Divine Throne pray: "Our Lord! Thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge, therefore forgive those who repent and follow Thy way and save them from the punishment of Hell." (40:7)
Although God's love for His servants is not arbitrary and depends on their merits, His love for wrongdoers and who have turned their back to Him is so great that it highly surpasses their expectation. The emphasis on this aspect of Divine love constitutes a considerable part of Islamic literature, including Quranic verses, ahadith and even poems. For example, we read in the Qur'an:
Say: O my servants! Who have acted extravagantly against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of God; Surely God forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (39:53)
The idea of repentance is one of the key concepts in this regard. In many verses of the Qur'an, God speaks of the constant possibility of repenting and returning to Him, He is the Forgiving. He says:
But whoever repents after his iniquity and reforms (himself), then surely God will return to h