Thus, whenever one quality or action comes into play, it blocks and diverts him from another—even though that other deed might itself be good—because of his limited capacity and weakness. This narrowness and weakness stem from his lack of power; they therefore revert to non-being, which originates from him. Pure non-existence is nothing at all and so cannot be attributed to God, exalted be He.

If, on the other hand, the thing in question actually exists—such as pain or the cause that produces pain—one must realize that the evil found in the created world is not evil in an absolute or unqualified sense. It is evil only for the one who suffers it; a calamity that strikes one people may prove a benefit to another.

For this reason the musalsal hadith states, “I believe in the divine decree, the good of it and the evil of it, its sweetness and its bitterness.” And in the report recorded by Abu Dawud: “Even if you were to spend the whole earth in gold, it would not be accepted from you until you believe in the decree—its good and its evil—and until you know that what has befallen you could never have missed you, and what has missed you could never have befallen you.”

Thus good and evil are relative to the servant to whom they are ascribed, just as sweetness and bitterness are.