In one of his lessons in al-Masjid al-Nabawi, shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzāq al-Badr said:
[الانسان لا يزال بخير ما كان حامدا لربه شاكر لنعمائه { وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ } ولهذا إذا شكر الإنسان فهذا استقبالٌ منه للمزيد ؛ لأن الشكر يُسمى الجالب ، ويُسمى الحافظ، الشكر -شكر الله – يسمى الجالب ، ويسمى الحافظ، الجالب للنعم المفقودة، والحافظ للنعم الموجودة، وما استجلبت نعمة ولا حفظت بمثل شكر المنعم .]
A person will continue to be in a good condition so long as he remains praising his Lord and being grateful for His blessings:
[وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ]
“And remember when your Lord proclaimed: If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, My punishment is certainly severe.” Ibrāhīm 14: 7
Based on this, when a person is grateful, then that is preparing the way for some sort of increase.
For gratitude is sometimes called a a bringer, and sometimes it is called a keeper. Gratitude to Allāh is sometimes called a bringer and sometimes called a keeper. It brings blessings which were not previously present, and it keeps blessings that were already present. There is nothing which brings blessings or keeps them quite like gratitude to the One who gives blessings.
[Explanation of al-Qawā’id al-Hisān, lesson #25]
