for He is the One Who has decreed the cause and decreed the effect, and He is absolutely just in that decree—and every such decree is good for the believer. As he ﷺ said, “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, Allah never ordains anything for a believer except that it is for his good, and that is true only for the believer.” (1)

The eminent scholar Ibn al-Qayyim said: “I asked our Shaykh (2): Does the decree that a person commit a sin fall under this as well?” He answered, “Yes—provided its condition is met.”

With that single phrase, “provided its condition is met,” he alluded to all the consequences of sin that are beloved to Allah: repentance, brokenness, remorse, humble submission, abject need, tears, and the like.

Benefit

Aspiration for the Hereafter is not perfected except through detachment from this world, and detachment from this world cannot be sound without two sound reflections.

The first reflection is upon the world itself: how swiftly it passes, how soon it disappears and perishes; its inherent deficiency and baseness; the pain of vying for it and the anxiety of being attached to it; the choking disappointments, vexations, and tribulations bound up with it; and, in the end, its disappearance and severance, followed by regret and sorrow. Whoever seeks it is never free: he worries before attaining it, worries while possessing it, and is filled with grief and sadness once it slips away. This is the first reflection.

The second reflection is upon the Hereafter: its certain approach—it must come; its permanence and endurance; the nobility of its delights and joys; and the vast gulf between it and what is here. It is, as Allah the Exalted says, “while the Hereafter is better and more lasting” (Al-Aʿlā 17).