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Among all types of living creatures, the most in need of different types of provision is man.
Allah has made man in the form of an all-embracing mirror of all of His Names, and a miracle of power that has taken possession of faculties that can weigh and know all that is stored up in all of the treasuries of His mercy; and the vicegerent (khalīfa) of the earth, who has tools able to weigh the subtleties of the manifestations of His Names as well as subtleties of His artful wonders.
This is why endless needs have been placed within him, and He has made him in need of illimitable types of provision, both material and spiritual.
In accordance with that all-embracing nature, man’s means of ascent to ‘the best of forms‘ (aḥsani taqwīm), the loftiest of stations, is thankfulness.
If there is no thankfulness, he tumbles down to ‘the lowest of the low’ (asfala’s-sāfilīn), and will have committed a terrible wrongdoing.
– “The Epistle on Gratitude” from the Risale-i Nur Corpus