what a blessing; how fortunate
Classical Japanese interjection expressing gratitude or appreciation for a rare or fortunate occurrence. In modern Japanese, it is mostly encountered in historical or literary contexts, or as the etymological source of ありがとう.
有り難し was used in old times as an expression of gratitude.
You may encounter the expression ありがたし in classical texts.
Classical kanji spelling; the word is usually written in kana in modern Japanese.
Variant classical kanji spelling; less common than 有り難し.
Classical Japanese adjective 有り難し (ari-gatashi), literally 'difficult to exist' or 'rare', used as an interjection to express appreciation for something uncommon or fortunate. It is the etymological source of modern ありがたい and ありがとう.