14 – Abū al-Zubayr narrated from Jābir that Surāqah ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

“O Messenger of Allah, tell us about our religion as though we had been born to it today: is the deed we do something that has already been decreed and recorded, the pens having dried, or is there still something ahead of us in which we begin to act?”

He replied, “Indeed, it is something whose decrees have already been set and whose pens have dried.”

Surāqah said, “Then what is the purpose of action?”

He answered, “Act, for everyone will be facilitated for that for which he was created.” He then recited: “As for him who gives and is mindful of Allah and affirms the best promise, We shall ease him toward ease; but as for him who withholds and thinks himself self-sufficient and denies the best promise, We shall ease him toward hardship.” (Q 92:5-10)