His wisdom; so He taught him how to present his excuse: “Then Adam received from his Lord words, and He turned toward him in mercy” (al-Baqarah 2:37).

• The servant, when he sins, does not intend to defy his Master or to brazenly violate His sanctities. Rather, it is the dominance of innate impulses, the embellishment of the self and Satan, the compulsion of passion, confidence in divine clemency, and hope for forgiveness. That is from the servant’s side.

• From the side of Lordship, the decree unfolds so that the majesty of Lordship may appear against the abasement of servitude and the perfection of need, and so that the effects of the Most Beautiful Names may be displayed: al-‘Afuww (the Pardoner), al-Ghafur (the All-Forgiving), al-Tawwab (the Oft-Relenting), and al-Halim (the Forbearing) for the one who returns repentant and remorseful; al-Muntaqim (the Avenger), al-‘Adl (the Just), and Dhu’l-Batsh al-Shadid (the Possessor of Terrible Might) for the one who persists and clings to disgrace. Thus He, exalted is He, wishes to show His slave His exclusive perfection and the slave’s deficiency and need of Him; to make him witness the completeness of His power and might, the fullness of His forgiveness, pardon, and mercy; the perfection of His beneficence, veiling, forbearance, lenience, and clemency; that His mercy toward him is sheer favor with no counterclaim; and that, were He not to envelop him in His mercy and bounty, he would inevitably perish.

By Allah—how much wisdom lies in the ordainment of sin! How much benefit and mercy it contains for the servant once repentance is realized. Repentance from sin is like a sick person taking his medicine, and many an illness becomes the very cause of health.

Perhaps your reproach will yield praiseworthy outcomes;
And bodies sometimes recover through sickness. (1)

• Had the decree of sin not existed, the son of Adam would have been ruined by self-admiration.
• A sin that humbles him is dearer to him than an act of obedience that makes him conceited.
• The candle of victory is only lowered into the candlestick of brokenness.