If nothing good reaches the person of whom he thinks well...

If nothing good reaches the person of whom he thinks well, this will not harm him in the least. This is a great lesson in thinking well of the believers. Perhaps it is based on this concept that the congregational prayer is accepted, for those who follow the Imam think well of him, so they pray behind him, advancing him as intermediary between them and Allah in the acceptance of their prayers.

Allah, therefore, grants them their wish, accepting the prayers of everyone because they thought well of Him. There are other examples of such good intentions such as one who drinks from the remnant of a believer’s ablution water seeking blessings, and it is like drinking the water of Zamzam. Both Martyrs have said, ‘A group of highly distinguished men drank of the water of Zamzam seeking the realization of religious and secular objectives, earning them all’ ( Sharh al-Lam`a al-Dimashqiyya , Vol.

2, p. 329). Some supplications contain admonishment that the best of the means of earning sustenance is supplication. One states the following: ‘Lord! Grant me conviction and to think well of You’ ( Bihar al-Anwar , Vol. 95, p. 95). The ahadith contain something even more impressive, that is, Allah grants the realization of a good intention even if it is false. Imam Al-Sadiq (‘a) is quoted as having said, ‘On the Day of Judgment, a servant is brought, and he is ordered to be hurled into the Fire.

The servant turns back, whereupon Allah, Glory and Exaltation are His, says, ‘Bring him back.’ When he is brought back, Allah asks him, ‘O My servant! Why did you turn back to Me?’ He answers saying, ‘Lord! I did not think of You to be like that!’ Allah, the most Great One, asks him, ‘What did you think of Me, then?’ The man would say, ‘I thought that You would forgive me and permit me to reside, through Your mercy, in Your Paradise.’ Allah, the most Exalted One, would say, ‘O My angels!

I swear by My Dignity and Greatness, by my Loftiness of Station, that this man never thought of Me well even for one moment. Had he thought well of Me even for a moment, I would not have terrified him with the Fire. Sanction his life and lodge him in Paradise.’ ( Al-Jawahir al-Saniyyah , p. 270). [^3] Look into this incident and you will see what cannot be described.

It is through a tradition such as this and through observing its likes of the Divine boons that our good intentions are strengthened and our hopes for an inclination by the Lord of Greatness be included under thinking well of Allah.