Section: The Categories of People with Respect to the Command (sharʿ) and the Decree (qadar)

The people who stand at this station—the station of the command and the decree—fall into four groups:

1. Those who have perfected all four foundations: the two foundations that relate to the command and the two that relate to the decree. These are the believing, God-fearing servants who combine worship of Allah with seeking His help in such measure that their affairs are set aright. They live for Allah and in Allah. They are the people of fairness and justice who witness both the station of Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and the station of Godhood (ulūhiyyah). They are the highest class, for this is the rank of those upon whom Allah has bestowed His grace— the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous.

2. Those who have fallen short in realizing the two foundations that pertain to the decree. They possess a measure of worship of Allah and uprightness in His law, yet they lack strength in seeking Allah’s help and in showing patience toward His cosmic and legislative judgments. Consequently, when they set about an act, they are struck by weakness and lethargy that hinder them from undertaking it or completing it; and once the act is done, they are overtaken by self-admiration and pride that may