It is known through belief that existence of Allah is a bounty surpassing all other bounties, a great bounty which is a source, a fountain, containing endless varieties of bounties, innumerable sorts of blessings, and uncountable kinds of gifts. It is consequently incumbent on man and a debt to offer praise and laudation for the bounties of belief to the number of particles in the world. A number of these have been shown in various parts of the Risale-i Nur; discussing belief in Allah, they raise the veil from these bounties and point them out.

One of the bounties for which praise should be offered with all the praise that the phrase “Alhamdulillah – All praise be to Allah!” indicates with the ‘Lam of specification,’ (li in Alhamdulillah) is the bounty of Divine mercy (Rahmâniyyah).  Indeed, mercy comprises bounties to the number of living beings which manifest Divine mercy. For man in particular is connected with all living creatures, and in this respect is gladdened by their happiness and saddened by their pain. Thus, a bounty found in a single individual is a bounty also for his fellows.  

Another which comprises bounties to the number of children which are blessed with their mother’s tenderness, and which deserves praise and laudation, is Divine compassion (Rahîmiyyah). Yes, a person with conscience who feels sorrow and pity at the weeping of a motherless, hungry child, surely feels pleasure at a mother’s compassion for her child, surely he is pleased and happy. Thus, pleasures of this sort are each a bounty and require praise and thanks.   

Another of the bounties requiring praise and thanks to the number of all the varieties and instances of wisdom contained in the universe is Divine wisdom (Hakîmiyyah). For just as man’s self is endowed with the manifestation of Divine mercy and his heart with the manifestation of Divine compassion, so too does his intellect take pleasure at the subtleties of Divine wisdom. So in this respect they require endless praise and laudation through the declaring of “Alhamdulillah – All praise be to Allah!”

Another is the bounty of preservation, for which praise should be offered to the number of manifestations of the Divine Name of Inheritor (Al-Wârith), and the number of descendants who endure after the passing of their forbears, and the number of the beings of the next world, and the number of men’s actions which are preserved so as to be the means of their receiving their rewards in the hereafter; praise should be offered with so great an “Alhamdulillah – All praise be to Allah!” that it fills all space with its sound. For the continuation of a bounty is more valuable than the bounty itself. The perpetuation of pleasure is more pleasurable than the pleasure itself. To abide permanently in Paradise is superior to Paradise itself; and so on. Consequently, the bounties which Almighty Allah’s attribute of Preserver (Hafîziyyah) comprise are greater and far superior to all the bounties existent in all the universe. Thus, this attribute requires an “Alhamdulillah – All praise be to Alah!” as great as the world. You can compare the rest of the Divine Names with the four mentioned here, and since in each are endless bounties, each requires endless praise and thanks.

Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who is the means of attaining the bounty of belief and has the authority to open all the treasuries of bounty, is also such a bounty that mankind bears for all eternity the debt of praising and applauding him.

Likewise, the bounties of Islam and the Qur’an, which are the index and source of all varieties of bounties, material and spiritual, require and deserve unending, infinite praise.

Source: The Rays, Risale-i Nur Collection