O Allah,
Then You carried me from childhood into youth, from weakness into strength, and from depending on others to becoming capable of taking care of myself.
O Allah,
I was once a weak child, and then I grew before my own eyes without understanding how it happened.
My body changed.
My bones became stronger.
My muscles developed.
My ability to move increased.
I became able to walk longer distances, run, carry things, work, and endure things that I could not endure as a child.
Where did this strength come from? Who brought me from weakness to ability?
It was Your blessing.
You gave me a stronger body, a more mature mind, and greater abilities to learn, work, and carry responsibility.
O Allah,
I began waking up in the morning able to move, go, return, and work without thinking about the countless processes taking place inside my body every moment.
My heart beats.
My lungs work.
My blood flows through my veins.
My nerves transmit signals.
My muscles respond.
My eyes see.
My ears hear.
My tongue speaks.
My mind thinks.
All of this happens within me every moment, while I am usually aware of only a small part of it.
O Allah,
You gave me the blessing of health without requiring me to ask for it every morning.
You gave me the ability to sleep and then wake.
You gave me the ability to move.
You gave me the ability to eat, drink, and digest.
You gave me the ability to work and accomplish things.
You gave me the ability to concentrate and think.
You gave me the ability to learn and gain experience.
How many blessings do I enjoy every day simply because they have become normal to me?
I rarely think about the blessing of breathing until breathing becomes difficult.
I rarely think about the blessing of walking until someone can no longer walk.
I rarely think about the blessing of sight until eyesight becomes weak.
I rarely think about the blessing of hearing until someone loses it.
I rarely think about the blessing of health until illness arrives.
It is as though I sometimes recognize the value of a blessing only when I fear losing it.
O Allah,
You then gave me a more mature mind.
My mind was no longer the mind of a small child asking only simple questions.
I began thinking about my future, my life, other people, and the world around me.
I began setting goals.
I began making decisions.
I began taking responsibility for some of my choices.
I began understanding that every decision has consequences and every action has an effect.
You gave me the ability to think before acting, to learn from my mistakes, and to change what I was able to change.
Then You opened before me the doors of knowledge and experience.
I learned from books.
I learned from school.
I learned from work.
I learned from people.
I learned from success.
And I also learned from failure.
Every experience added something to the person I was becoming.
O Allah,
In my youth, You gave me energy that I had not possessed as a child.
You gave me the ability to work, earn, produce, and contribute.
I became able to carry responsibilities that I could not carry before.
I became able to help others instead of always being the one who needed help.
After once being carried and cared for by others, I became capable of carrying some of life's burdens myself.
O Allah,
You also gave me the blessing of will and choice.
I became able to choose.
I could say yes.
I could say no.
I could decide where to go, what to learn, what work to pursue, whom to befriend, and what goals to seek.
This freedom itself is both a blessing and a responsibility.
O Allah,
How many paths You opened before me.
How many opportunities You placed in my way.
How many people I came to know.
How many sources of provision appeared when I least expected them.
How many things I once considered coincidences, only to realize years later that they had become part of the course of my life.
I sometimes thought I was creating my future entirely by myself, only to realize that You had prepared many of the means that brought me along those paths.
Then I began carrying greater responsibilities.
I became responsible for my decisions.
Responsible for my time.
Responsible for my work.
Responsible for how I treated others.
And I began to understand that strength is not only physical strength.
There is strength of mind.
Strength of will.
Strength of patience.
Strength to accept responsibility.
O Allah,
You gave me many opportunities during this stage of life to learn what life really means.
You taught me that some days are easy and others are difficult.
You taught me that a person may succeed and may fail.
May be happy and may be sad.
May find a path and may lose it.
May possess something and later lose it.
And may lose something only to find that You replaced it with something better.
Every experience became an opportunity to discover my own weakness and my need for You.
O Allah,
The stronger I became, the more grateful I should have become to You.
For whenever I became capable of doing something, I should have remembered the One who gave me that ability.
Whenever I felt strong, I should have remembered that my strength itself was created, and that no matter how strong I became, I remained a servant in need of Your power.
O Allah, do not let me become proud of the strength You have given me, and do not let me forget that every strength I possess comes from Your grace.
If You give me health, do not let me use it in ways that displease You.
If You give me knowledge and intelligence, do not let me use them for injustice.
If You give me wealth and the ability to work, do not let me forget the poor and those in need.
If You give me strength, make it a means of doing good.
If You give me youth, let me use my youth in Your obedience and in serving Your creation.
O Allah, You gave me a stage of life filled with energy, ability, and opportunities. Help me recognize its value before it passes away.
Praise belongs to You for my youth.
Praise belongs to You for my health.
Praise belongs to You for my strength.
Praise belongs to You for my mind.
Praise belongs to You for my senses.
Praise belongs to You for my ability to work and learn.
Praise belongs to You for every opportunity You gave me.
Praise belongs to You for every experience that taught me something.
Praise belongs to You for every person You made a means of bringing goodness into my life.
Praise belongs to You for every path You opened for me.
And praise belongs to You for every path You closed for me out of mercy, even when I did not understand why.
O Allah, when I reflect on my youth, I realize that the strength I once thought was mine was never truly mine. I was only living, every moment, through the strength and blessings You had given me.
All praise belongs to You until You are pleased, all praise belongs to You when You are pleased, and all praise belongs to You after You are pleased.
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