Moreover, when a man receives anything in this world, it appears to be available to him through the ‘cause-and-effect’ process.

Man’s life begins from a humble fluid.

But when man grows up, he tries to take a stand in opposition to God.

If he were to keep in view the reality of his origin, he would never allow himself to become arrogant in this world.

Animals, in particular, cattle, are among the various bounties with which man has been blessed in the present world.

From time immemorial, whenever a man finds himself in such trouble that he is absolutely helpless, he starts remembering God.

Even polytheists and others who deny the truth behave in this way.

This shows that the concept of God is embedded in human nature.

When man has no further recourse, he turns at last to God.

The concept of God is ingrained in human nature to the utmost extent.

One demonstration of this is that when man is faced with a calamity, such as being on the point of being ship-wrecked, all artificial barriers are removed at that moment, and finding himself helpless, he starts calling out to the one and only God.

He is made to experience such adversity so that he may mould his conduct accordingly.

Man has not created himself.

God has created him.

Then He has maintained him in a world which is full of blessings.

But after being given freedom, man has become so rebellious that he does not admit the graciousness of his greatest Benefactor.

All the things of this earth maintain a harmonious balance.

In this universe the human being is a special creation who has been endowed with the exceptional powers of sight, hearing and thought.

These capacities have been given to man for the special purpose of understanding the reality of life.

He should use his ears to hear the voice of Truth.

The blowing of a cool breeze before the start of the rains announces the fact that the God of this world is the most Kind and Merciful.

Man has been endowed with eyes, hands and legs and numerous such blessings, but instead of being thankful, he takes these blessings for granted.

It is a fact that these features were not created by man himself, instead his Creator blessed him with them.

He must therefore realize their importance, for what would man do, if the Creator decided to withdraw His blessings.

But it is man’s wont to become arrogant on receiving favours.

When a man sees that this great universal provision for him has been arranged without his necessarily deserving it, his heart is filled with gratitude for this freely given blessing.

In consequence, this whole matter becomes nourishment for man’s God-fearing instinct, or piety (taqwa).

It is the rule of nature that every privilege be accompanied by responsibility.

The driving force behind the true godliness required of a man is, in reality, his sense of gratitude.

If he gives serious consideration to his creation and the various natural systems in operation around him, a sense of gratitude towards his Lord will eventually develop in him.

The state of being resulting from these feelings of gratitude and obligation is known as godliness, or adoration of God in the real sense.

Man is a psychological being.

If psychologically he is vitiated, his whole life is affected.

The guidance revealed by God in the form of the divine Book is an absolute mercy to all humanity.

If a settlement of human beings is in a good condition and is well provided for, God raises one of His subjects from among them, who calls them to the Truth.

He considered all things to have been received from God, and for that his heart was full of gratitude to God.

The best that God can expect from His subjects is their gratefulness for His bounties.

Man is awakened by this but is so heedless that, as soon as he is relieved of his distress, this feeling of wakening soon vanishes into thin air.

He remains blissfully unaware of the fact that he is as much in God’s grip as he was earlier.

His coming home safely after the sea voyage does not rule out the possibility of suffering the same calamity again.

Despite man’s insolence, God does not seize upon him immediately.

A man who lives in this world with open eyes will never indulge in impudence or arrogance.

Man is brought up as a humble creature.

He is subject to accidents, disease and old age.

If God showers His blessings on a man, he should always remain grateful to Him.

Man’s existence is a very great gift of God.

We can estimate its greatness by the fact that man would never exchange it, or even any apart of it—his eyes or hands, or any organ of his body—for the greatest treasures of the world.

Even these basic gifts of God (organs of the body) are more precious than the kingdoms of the kings.

Such an incident would be enough to give rise to conceit and pride in an ordinary man.

Little has been recorded in history about Luqman, except that he was a wise and God-fearing man.

The entire existence of man is the gift of God.

Man is in need of innumerable things to sustain his life, for example, light, water, air, food, minerals, etc.

Each of these elements require the combined and concerted actions of universal forces to come into existence.

Who else except the one God is capable of bringing about such a big event?

The accumulation of fertile soil on the surface of the earth; the provision of water, sun and air and the potential in the seed to germinate and grow—these and other such innumerable known and unknown factors combine to produce the food- grains, fruits and vegetables which nourish human beings.

Cattle and other domestic animals are living examples which show that this material world has been created by its Creator in such a way that man should be able to harness it according to his needs.

Man sails his ships on the seas and flies his aircraft in the sky.

This has become possible because God has made the laws of nature favourable to us.

Had this not been so, neither would our boats have been able to sail the seas nor our planes been able to fly in the air.

One has to face many vicissitudes in life.

The universe has been created in such a way that it is completely subservient to man’s interests.

The universe is of infinite immensity.

So, whenever somebody is in a position to do something good, he should thank God for it.