—all the same; for the one who does not feel pain from something does not regard it as evil, while the one who enjoys it counts it as good. The Prophet ﷺ used to teach a man whose brother had recounted a dream to him to say, “May you receive good and be spared from evil—good for us and evil for our enemies.” When misfortune strikes a servant, his enemy’s heart is gladdened; thus the very event is good for one person and evil for another. And for someone who is neither a friend nor an enemy, it is, with respect to him, neither good nor evil.

None of God’s creatures causes perpetual harm to all people, nor even to the majority of them all the time. Rather, His creations are, for them—or at least for most of them during most times—sources of blessing, such as the sun and good health. Consequently, among the beings God has brought into existence there is nothing that is absolutely and universally evil.

It follows, then, that any evil found in creation is limited and particular, and that it has another aspect in which it is good and beautiful—and this is the predominant of its two aspects. The Exalted says, “He perfected everything He created” (32:7); and He says, “It is the handiwork of God, who has made all things well” (27:88); and He says, “We did not create the heavens and the earth and what lies between them except in truth” (15:85); and He says, “They reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying:] ‘Our Lord, You have not created this in vain’” (3:191).