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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqwa (Piety) Advice of Piety and Blessings ======================= One of the other cases, in which no one thinks he should observe Taqwa but he is really duty-bound to be careful of it, is the God’s infinite blessings. It is a sign of God’s grace, bounties, and His hidden and open favors.

About these blessings God has said: “And if you would count Allah’s favors, you will not be able to number them.” ^1 Therefore, it is impossible to count God’s blessings. How can human beings count those blessings when they do not know about one thousandth of the blessings given to them, or about the creatures around them, and the extent of the Divine blessings that have encompassed the world?

The late Mohaddith Qumi says: “It is impossible to know the different blessings of God, but man would better ponder over a single blessing to understand his own inability.” He says: “When you intend to put a morsel of bread into your mouth, look at the process it has gone through.

This morsel could not be prepared without this world having a sound system, for wheat does not grow without the help of the four seasons, a combination of temperaments, winds, rains, and interaction of some stars with others in a certain direction. ” When wheat is grown, the tools of milling are needed.

This is not possible without having access to iron found in the heart of mountains, and the finding of iron in mountains is not possible without having access of other instruments for excavating and taking off the iron. Following this, the four elements of water, fire, wind and earth should gather to produce this morsel of bread. How this morsel of bread is used and absorbed by the body requires knowing anatomy and medicine.

It is then that you will understand the meaning of “And if you would count Allah’s favors, you will not be able to number them.” This morsel of bread is one of the apparent blessings of God, whereas there are both apparent and hidden blessings of God and human beings know a little about this matter. There are such great blessings as prophethood and Imamate which God has repeatedly mentioned in the holly Quran.

Raghib Isfahani has called it practical heavy blessing, for “Minnah” is of two kinds: practical and verbal. “Practical” is one of the features of God who has practically blessed His servants, like guidance, prophethood and imamate. “Verbal” is in relation to human beings which is blamed in the Holy Quran and traditions.