Sufism

Gratitude (shukr) is seeing the Giver in every gift

Classical Sufi teaching, reflected in al-Qushayri's chapter, breaks gratitude into gratitude of the tongue, of action, and of the heart, with the heart-level form being the point where the Giver, not just the gift, comes into view.

Al-Qushayri's chapter on shukr draws on a standard classical division of gratitude into three levels: gratitude of the tongue, acknowledging and naming the blessing; gratitude of the limbs, using the blessing rightly, in line with what it was given for; and gratitude of the heart, an inward recognition of the Giver behind the gift. The deepest form is what the principle points to: seeing every gift, ordinary or extraordinary, as evidence of a relationship with a Giver rather than as a free-floating fact of good luck. Al-Qushayri, like other writers in this genre, also treats gratitude and trial as closely linked rather than opposed, since the capacity to endure hardship is itself read as a form of divine provision, which is part of why gratitude in this literature is cultivated across all circumstances rather than reserved for visible good fortune.

Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya