Surah Luqman, Ayat 12: And we bestowed Hikmah upon Luqman: “Show they gratitude to Allah and who is grateful does so to the profit of his own soul.”
Editor's intro: Below is another brief, but extremely beneficial, transcription of a segment of a discourse by His Eminence, El-Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani. The dear reader will also notice this is a Bayan on the Hikmah Allah Ta’ala reveals for mankind in Surah Luqman (Tafseer).
COMMENTARY: Here, the word is Hikmah. After Wahi and Messengerhood (Risalah) is the Hikmah. Hikmah is The Wisdom. In English we say: “[So and so], he is a very wise man.” What do we mean by this? It is a very crude meaning, because the whole terminology [of English] is very ambiguous and ever changing. The wise people twenty years ago are fools now, and those people whom they call wise today: they will become fools after ten years. So, Hikmah is that gift from Allah Subhanhu wa Ta’ala that comes directly from Allah by which you can make differentiation between the falsehood and the truth. Hikmah is a gift. After Messengers come Hakeems whom Allah has given Hikmah. They are Awliya. Hadrat Luqman [Alayhis-Salaam] was a Hakeem.
Now [as I said], Hikmah is a gift that comes from Allah. It is not Wahi, but Allah inspires the hearts of those people by giving them Hikmah. It is a light, Allah’s Noor, by which they can differentiate between the falsehood and the truth. They know the reality of the things (Haqiqah) and the secrets of the deeds and actions upon it. For an ordinary person, [he sees] all that is in heaven and earth and thinks only that he can just cultivate land, raise flowers and cattle, do business [and just thinks that] Allah has [accordingly and solely] done this for him. But, for a Hakeem, all of that which is between heaven and earth in the physical world are signs and similitudes to guide him, and they are all physical manifestations; physical or materialized forms of each and every word of Holy Qur’an. All that he sees are the physical manifestations or materialization of Allah’s Words.
The words of Allah are meant to guide you, so that you are not misguided. When you start doing research of the signs, or conception material, or its growth, or its form, then one is short of a fool! An indicative sign is meant to lead you towards a direction! They are the signs on a way meant to lead towards a direction, and you follow that direction. But, when you stop there and you have your microscope, your instruments, etc., and you start writing on your boards that it (the signs given by Allah) is made of so and so, it is so many years old, etc., then they’ll say: “He’s a madman! Put him in the lunatic asylum!”
Signs are meant to direct you! These are attributes of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala materialized in this world. So to give you assurance and show His Love for you, His Attributes (and Names) are manifested in this world in physical form. All of them! His name which gives life, Al-Hayy, travels into the world of similitude, where this name gets its own form, and then it enters into this world, it turns into water. Al-Hayy is Allah’s Name, because from water, He created everything. His name, An-Naafi’ (He who gives benefit), when it enters this world, it takes the form of the herbs, the medical plants, and all the things from which we derive benefit. And His Name, Al-Qayyum, when it enters here, it is the force that holds the heavens and the skies without pillars. So, these are Allah Attributes, His beautiful Names. All of these are physical manifestations here…
The first essential part of Hikmah is that you must always thank your Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, and here, “any who is so grateful, does so to the profit of his own soul.” When you thank, you must thank for each and every favor Allah Ta’ala gives you, and if you thank, even that is for your own benefit.
Surah Luqman, Ayat 12 continued: “But if any is ungrateful, verily Allah is free of all wants and worthy of all praises.”
COMMENTARY: Allah becomes actually indifferent. If nobody thanks Him; He doesn’t want his or her thanks, but if you thank Him, He will appease you in His Bounty.