اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
Twenty-forth sign of the pious:
قَانِعَةً نَفْسُهُ،
You see his soul, contented,
Contentment in the word and the term means: to be slightly satisfied with what the almighty God has offered. (al-Ain, volume 1, page 170). Numerous benefits have been enumerated for contentment in the narrations and sayings of the infallible Imams:
1. Paradise and divine pleasure: The Commander of Faithfull, Imam Ali says:
مَنْ رَضِيَ مِنَ اللَّهِ بِالْيَسِيرِ مِنَ الرِّزْقِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُ بِالْقَلِيلِ مِنَ الْعَمَل؛
Whoever is satisfied with God’s little aliment, God will be pleased with his low deeds. (Makarem al-Akhlagh, page 148)
Imam Sadegh (as) also says:
مَكْتُوبٌ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ ابْنَ آدَمَ كُنْ كَيْفَ شِئْتَ كَمَا تَدِينُ تُدَانُ مَنْ رَضِيَ مِنَ اللَّهِ بِالْقَلِيلِ مِنَ الرِّزْقِ قَبِلَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُ الْيَسِيرَ مِنَ الْعَمَلِ…؛
It is written in the Torah: O son of Adam! Whatever you want to be, whatever you are, you will be treated the same, whoever is satisfied with God for a little, God (also) will be satisfied with his low deeds. . . (Kafi, volume 2, page 138)
No matter how much a person worships God, he will not be able to fulfill the right of a small amount of the blessings of God, (Every inhalation of the breath prolongs life and any expiration of it gladdens our nature; wherefore every breath confers two benefits and for every benefit gratitude is due.)
According to these narrations and the words of the infallibles, one of the benefits of contentment is that the almighty God, in spite of good deeds and low and impossible worships, satisfies his servant full of sin and guilt, and God’s pleasure is the highest blessing to the paradise.
2. Peace in life: Imam Sadegh (as) continues the previous narration:
وَ مَنْ رَضِيَ بِالْيَسِيرِ مِنَ الْحَلَالِ خَفَّتْ مَئُونَتُهُ …؛
And whoever is satisfied with a little halal, his living expenses will be reduced and lightened. . . (Kafi, volume 2, page 138)
Today, the heavy burden of living expenses is suffering many people around the world. Many suffer from depression and mental illness due to the pressures of life and have resorted to overuse of sedatives. When the human psyche is disturbed and loses its calm, all human organs are out of their normal state and this causes various physical diseases. Contentment causes low cost and more comfortable life and this is a leap to fly at the peak of perfection and happiness. Imam Ali, the Commander of Faithfull says:
لَا كَنْزَ أَغْنَى مِنَ الْقَنَاعَةِ وَ لَا مَالَ أَذْهَبُ لِلْفَاقَةِ مِنَ الرِّضَى بِالْقُوتِ وَ مَنِ اقْتَصَرَ عَلَى بُلْغَةِ الْكَفَافِ فَقَدِ انْتَظَمَ الرَّاحَةَ وَ تَبَوَّأَ خَفْضَ الدَّعَةِ وَ الرَّغْبَةُ مِفْتَاحُ النَّصَبِ وَ مَطِيَّةُ التَّعَبِ؛
There is no treasure more satisfying than contentment, and nothing is better than the satisfaction to eradicate poverty, and whoever is consent with the amount of need has attained comfort and ease, and has attained spaciousness and tranquility; and desire for the world is the key to suffering and calamity and the compound of hardship and sorrow. (Nahj al-Balagha (The Morning Saleh), page 540)
3. Beautiful and clean acquisition: Imam Ali says:
ثَمَرَةُ الْقَنَاعَةِ الْإِجْمَالُ فِي الْمُكْتَسَبِ وَ الْعُزُوفُ عَنِ الطَّلَبِ؛
The result for contentment is to be satisfied with the beauty of the business and to leave the request of others. (Oyoon al-Hekam va al-Mava’eez (Lithi), page 208)
The cause of many biases in gaining wealth is the greed to earn more. The greedy man does not see his lawful gain sufficient and is eager to earn more, so tries to acquire wealth through illegal means. In this way, he pollutes his business with forbidden property, deception, lies, and all kinds of sins and other ugly deeds, while if he was satisfied with a lawful life, he would not be afflicted with so much corruption and pollution, and his business would not be dirty and he was not infected with all kinds of sins.
4. Needlessness: Imam Ali says:
ثَمَرَةُ الْقَنَاعَةِ الْغَنَاءُ؛
The benefit of contentment is to be needless. (Oyoon al-Hekam va al-Mava’eez (Lithi), page 208)
Imam Sadegh (as) said: Life situation of one of the companions of the prophet became difficult. His wife said to him: I wish you would go to the prophet and ask him for something (help).
The man came to the holy prophet. When holy prophet saw him, said: If somebody wants anything, we will give him and whoever seeks needlessness (who is satisfied and does not express need) God will make him independent; the man said to himself that the prophet does not mean anyone but me, so he returned to his wife and informed her (of the current). The woman said: The messenger of God is also a human being (and he is unaware of your situation); inform him of your situation.
The man came to the prophet, and when he saw him, said: If somebody wants anything, we will give him and whoever seeks needlessness (who is satisfied and does not express need) God will make him independent; and the man did the same thing for three times.
Then he went and borrowed an ax and went to the mountains. He went to the top of the mountain and cut some firewood and brought it and sold it. The next day he went and brought some more firewood and sold it. He worked and saved constantly until he gradually became rich and needless. Then he returned to the prophet and reported how he had come to ask and what he had heard from him. The holy prophet said: I told you: If somebody wants anything, we will give him and whoever seeks needlessness (who is satisfied and does not express need) God will make him independent. (Kafi, volume 2, page 139)
Imam Sadiq (as) says:
مَنْ قَنِعَ بِمَا رَزَقَهُ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ مِنْ أَغْنَى النَّاسِ؛
Whoever is content with what God has provided for him, he is one of the most needless people. (Kafi, volume 2, page 139)
5. Self-esteem: Greedy and avaricious people struggle to achieve their aspirations; they express helplessness in front of those in power and wealth; they flatter and compliment, which causes self-humiliation and destruction of their personality. For this reason, the Commander of Faithfull, Imam Ali says:
الطَّامِعُ فِي وِثَاقِ الذُّلِّ؛
A greedy man is always worthless and abject. (Nahj al-Balagha (The Morning Saleh), page 508)
But the satisfied person never sees himself in need of others and does not humiliate himself in front of others. That is why he is always dear and honorable. Imam Ali says:
ثَمَرَةُ الْقَنَاعَةِ الْعِزُّ؛
The result and benefit of contentment is dignity. (Oyoon al-Hekam va al-Mava’eez (Lithi), Page 208)