O querulous  man! You  did  not remain  non-existent;  you  were clothed  in the bounty of existence. You tasted life; you neither remained inanimate, nor were made an animal. You received the bounty of Islam; you did not remain in misguidance. You have experienced the bounties of good health and well-being!

O ungrateful one! Where did you win the right not to offer thanks in return for the degrees of existence Almighty God has given you as a pure bounty? How is it that because exalted bounties that are contingencies and non-existent and that you do not deserve   have   not  been   given   you,   you   complain   about   Almighty  God   with meaningless greed, and are ungrateful for the bounties you have received? If a man rises to an elevated position, such as climbing to the top of a minaret, and finds a high station, and on every step receives a large bounty, then does not thank the one who gave him the bounties and complainingly asks why he did not rise even higher, how wrong  he  would  be!  What  an  ungrateful  denial  of  the  bounties,  what  a  great foolishness it would be, as even a lunatic would understand!

O discontented greedy, thriftless wasteful, unjustly complaining, heedless man! Know   certainly   that   contentment   is   profitable   thanks,   greed   is   loss-causing ingratitude,   and   frugality,   fine   and   beneficial   respect   for   bounties.   As   for wastefulness,   it  is  ugly  and  harmful  contempt  for  bounties.  If  you  have  any intelligence, accustom yourself to being content, and try to be satisfied with little! If you cannot endure it, say: “O Most Patient One!” and request patience. Be satisfied with your lot and do not complain! Understand who is complaining about whom, and be silent. If you have to complain, then complain about your soul to God Almighty, for that’s where the fault lies.

SECOND SIGN

As is stated at the end of the last matter of the Eighteenth Letter, one instance of wisdom in the All-Glorious Creator’s constantly changing and renewing beings in an astonishing and awesome way through the activity of His dominicality is as follows:

Activity and motion in creatures arise from an appetite, a desire, a pleasure, a love. It may be said that there is a sort of pleasure in all activity; or that activity is a sort of pleasure, even. Pleasure too is turned towards a perfection; indeed, it is a sort of perfection. Since activity indicates perfection, pleasure, beauty; and since the Necessarily Existent One, who is absolute perfection and the Perfect One of Glory, unites in His essence, attributes, and names every sort of perfection; for sure, in a manner fitting for the necessary existence and holiness of the Necessarily Existent Essence, in a form suitable to His absolute riches and essential self-sufficiency, in a way appropriate to His absolute perfection  and  freedom  from  defect,  He  has  a  boundless  sacred  compassion  and infinite pure love.