S e c o n d  P o i n t

One  of  the  many  instances  of  wisdom  in  the  fast  of  the  blessed  month  of Ramadan with respect to thankfulness for God Almighty’s bounties is as follows:

As is stated  in the First Word, a price is required  for the foods a tray-bearer brings from the royal kitchen. But to look on those priceless bounties as valueless while tipping the tray-bearer, and not to recognize the one who bestowed them is the greatest foolishness.

God Almighty has spread innumerable sorts of bounties over the face of the earth for mankind, in return for which He wishes thanks, as the price of those bounties. The apparent causes and holders of the bounties resemble tray-bearers. We pay a certain price to them and are indebted to them, and even though they do not merit it are over- respectful and grateful to them. Whereas the True Bestower of Bounties is infinitely more  deserving  of  thanks  than  those  causes  which  are  merely  the  means  of  the bounty. To thank Him, then, is to recognize that the bounties come directly from Him; it is to appreciate their worth and to perceive one’s own need for them.

Fasting in Ramadan, then, is the key to true, sincere, extensive, and universal thankfulness. For at other times of the year, most people whose circumstances are not difficult do not realize the value of many bounties since they do not experience real hunger.  If  their  stomachs  are  full  and  especially  if  they  are  rich,  they  do  not understand the degree of bounty present in a piece of dry bread. But when it is time to break the fast, the sense of taste testifies that the dry bread is a precious divine bounty in  the  eyes  of  a  believer.  During  Ramadan,  everyone  from  the  monarch  to  the destitute  manifests  a  sort  of  gratitude  through  understanding  the  value  of  those bounties.

Furthermore, since eating is prohibited during the day, they say: “Those bounties do not belong to me. I am not free to eat them, for they belong to someone else and are his gift. I await his command.” They recognize the bounty to be bounty and so give thanks. Thus, fasting in this way is in many respects a key to gratitude; gratitude being man’s fundamental duty.

T h i r d  P o i n t

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting from the point of view of man’s social life is as follows: