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Man lam yashkur al-makhluq lam yashkur al-Khaliq

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Man lam yashkur al-makhluq lam yashkur al-Khaliq (Arabic: مَن لم يَشكُرِ المَخلوقَ لَم يَشكُرِ الخالِقَ) meaning "Whoever does not thank the creature does not thank the Creator," is a phrase that has become famous as a narration; however, according to hadith scholars, this exact wording is not found in Shi'a hadith sources. Nonetheless, hadiths with similar content exist in Islamic sources.

Citing this phrase, researchers have posited a direct relationship between gratitude to the creature and gratitude to the Creator. In their view, since creatures are intermediaries of divine grace, thanking them is considered, in reality, thanking God as the ultimate source of blessings.

Phrase Derived from Similar Hadiths

According to Nasir Makarim Shirazi, although the phrase "Man lam yashkur al-makhluq lam yashkur al-Khaliq" does not exist in Shi'a narrations,[1] there are narrations with similar content in Shi'a hadith sources, including:

  • "Whoever does not thank people does not thank God" (Arabic: مَنْ لَمْ يَشْكُرِ اَلنَّاسَ لَمْ يَشْكُرِ اَللَّهَ).[2] From the Prophet (s).[3]
  • "...The most grateful of you to God is the most grateful of you to people" (Arabic: ...أَشْکَرُکُمْ لِلَّهِ أَشْکَرُکُمْ لِلنَّاس).[4] From Imam al-Sajjad (a).[5]
  • "Whoever does not thank the benefactor from among the creatures does not thank God Almighty" (Arabic: مَنْ لَمْ یَشْکُرِ الْمُنْعِمَ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِینَ لَمْ یَشْکُرِ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَ جَل).[6] From Imam al-Rida (a).[7]
  • "...Whoever does not thank his parents does not thank God Almighty..." (Arabic: ...فَمَنْ لَمْ يَشْكُرْ وَالِدَيْهِ لَمْ يَشْكُرِ اَللَّهَ تَعَالَى).[8] From Imam al-Rida (a).[9]

Relationship Between Gratitude to the Creature and Gratitude to the Creator

Religious researchers, citing narrations about gratitude to others, argue for the existence of a connection and correlation between gratitude to God's servants and gratitude to the Creator (God). For instance, Morteza Motahhari, a Shi'a thinker and writer, believes that a person cannot claim to thank God while failing to thank those like parents, teachers, and others who have done good to them.[10] According to Nasir Makarim Shirazi, the correlation between thanking the creature and thanking the Creator can be interpreted in two ways:

  • Abandoning gratitude to the creature is a sign of the person's ungrateful nature; in this case, they will not be grateful to the Creator either, especially since God's blessings, due to their vastness, might not be visible to the person.
  • The creature is an intermediary for transferring God's blessing to servants, and failure to thank the intermediary of the blessing leads to failure to thank the Creator.[11]

Abd Allah Jawadi Amuli also considers gratitude to creatures a sign of etiquette and a human duty.[12] However, Sayyid Muhammad Ali Ayazi, a Shi'a Qur'an researcher, considers this conditional on it not causing negligence of God.[13]

In contrast, Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya, a Shi'a exegete, believes that although thanking the creature is a worthy and good act, the phrase "Man lam yashkur al-makhluq lam yashkur al-Khaliq" is merely a moral instruction. He argues that one cannot cite it to claim a necessary correlation between thanking the creature and thanking the Creator, nor to rule that thanking the creature is obligatory.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Akhlāq dar Qurʾān, 1377 Sh, vol. 3, p. 93.
  2. ↑ Ghaffārī, Tarjuma-yi Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, 1367 Sh, vol. 6, p. 318.
  3. ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, 1404 AH, vol. 4, p. 380.
  4. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Guftār-i Maʿṣūmīn (a), 1387 Sh, vol. 2, p. 200.
  5. ↑ Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 2, p. 99.
  6. ↑ Muḥammadī Ray-Shahrī, Mīzān al-ḥikma, 1389 Sh, vol. 6, p. 24.
  7. ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā (a), 1378 AH, vol. 2, p. 24.
  8. ↑ Muḥammadī Ray-Shahrī, Mīzān al-ḥikma, 1389 Sh, vol. 6, p. 24.
  9. ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā (a), 1378 AH, vol. 1, p. 258.
  10. ↑ Muṭahharī, Āshnāyī bā Qurʾān, vol. 2, 1376 Sh, pp. 23-24.
  11. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Akhlāq dar Qurʾān, 1385 Sh, vol. 3, pp. 463–464.
  12. ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Sūra-yi Ṭūr, session 8, on Isrāʾ website.
  13. ↑ Ayāzī, Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Majīd bargirifta az āthār-i Imām Khumaynī, 1386 Sh, vol. 5, p. 229.
  14. ↑ Mughniyya, Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 1, p. 239.

References

  • Ayāzī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Majīd bargirifta az āthār-i Imām Khumaynī. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khumaynī, 1386 Sh.
  • Ghaffārī, ʿAlī Akbar; Ghaffārī, Muḥammad Jawād; Balāghī, Ṣadr al-Dīn. Tarjuma-yi Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Tehran: Nashr-i Ṣadūq, 1367 Sh.
  • Jāmī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. (6) Man lam yashkur al-nās lam yashkur Allāh. (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī) in Risāla-yi Arbaʿīn, on Ganjoor website.
  • Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr-i Sūra-yi Ṭūr, session 8, on Isrāʾ website, posted Feb 14, 2017, accessed April 6, 2025.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī and Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1407 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Akhlāq dar Qurʾān. Qom: Madrassat al-Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, 1377 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Guftār-i Maʿṣūmīn (a). Compiled by Sayyid Muḥammad ʿAbdullāhzāda. Qom: Madrassat al-Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, 1387 Sh.
  • Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif. Iran: Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1424 AH.
  • Muḥammadī Ray-Shahrī, Muḥammad. Mīzān al-ḥikma. Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1389 Sh.
  • Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Āshnāyī bā Qurʾān (2). Tehran: Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1376 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1404 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā (a). Edited by Mahdī Lājavardī. Tehran: Nashr-i Jahān, 1378 AH.
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