—namely, that He does not treat them in either abode as He treats those who deny Him, who have been deprived of His guidance and have no share in His friendship.

O Allah, Guardian of Islam and its people, keep us firm upon Islam until we meet You adhering to it.

Allah does not place the people of obedience and the people of sin on the same footing, nor the people of faith and the people of unbelief; rather, He recompenses each according to his deeds. He has not made them—in this world or the next—like those who repudiate Him, who missed out on His guidance and gained nothing of His friendship. On the contrary, exalted is He, He has distinguished between them in this life and the Hereafter: He has set apart the obedient from the disobedient and the believers from the unbelievers. In this world He differentiates them by their qualities, their outward signs, and their actions. The deeds of Allah’s friends and the people of obedience are nothing like the deeds, words, or conduct of His enemies. Look at people today and observe their behavior: consider the conduct of the god-fearing believers, then look at the conduct of the openly immoral sinners, and then at the conduct of the disbelievers and atheists. Such is the case in this life.

In the Hereafter Allah will likewise distinguish between them: some He will honor with His Garden, while others He will punish with His Fire and retribution. For He is All-Wise, placing everything where it belongs; He bestows mercy only upon those who deserve it, and He assigns punishment only to those who deserve it.

However, the phrase “people of His knowledge” is somewhat lacking, for it can imply that faith is nothing more than knowledge, as the extremists among the Murjiʾah claim. Had he said “people of His obedience,” it would have been better and clearer.

Even so, this passage is among the most beautiful words of the author—may Allah have mercy on him!