الحوائجُ الى اللّه وأسبابها فَاطْلُبوها الى اللّه بهم فمن أعطاكموها فخذوها عن اللّه بصبر
Needs must be addressed to Allah and the [appropriate] medium. Thus, ask Allah to fulfill them through the [appropriate] medium. If somebody provides them [needs] for you, take them from Allah with patience.
(Tohfatul Oqul, p. 48)
In this tradition, the role of natural causes that fulfill man's needs has been noticeably focused on. The pronoun behem (meaning 'by them') along with the plural form zul oqul (roughly meaning 'those who have wisdom') point to the fact that many of our needs are fulfilled through human beings. Therefore, while man has his needs fulfilled through natural causes (mainly through other men), he must look beyond that and see the divine forces at work. Considering the natural causes without considering the divine role is incomplete, as is considering God without considering the natural causes. These two must be combined and in order to have our needs fulfilled, we must be patient.