and Allah—majestic and exalted—will say: “You were the shepherds of My creation and the custodians of My sovereignty upon My earth.” Then He will say to one of them, “Why did you strike My servants with more lashes than the limit I had set?” He will answer, “My Lord, because they disobeyed You and defied You.” Allah will say, “Your anger must not outpace My anger.” Then He will turn to another and ask, “Why did you strike My servants with fewer lashes than the limit I had set?” He will reply, “My Lord, I felt compassion for them.” The Almighty will say, “How can you be more merciful than I? Take the one who exceeded the limit and the one who fell short, and pack both of them into the far corners of Hell.”
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān said, “I do not praise any ruler, whether he is righteous or unrighteous, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, say: ‘Both the just and the unjust governors will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and made to stand upon the Bridge. Allah will command the Bridge to shake them off into the Fire—anyone who deviated in judgment, accepted a bribe to decide a case, or lent his ear to one litigant while ignoring the other. They will tumble from the Bridge, plunging for seventy years through the Fire until they reach its depths.’”
It is related that David, peace be upon him, used to go out at night in disguise so that no one would recognize him, asking in secret about the state of David. Gabriel came to him in the form of a man. David asked, “What do you say about David?” He replied, “He is an excellent servant—except that he lives on the public treasury and does not live on the labor of his own hands.” David returned to his prayer niche weeping and distressed and said, “My Lord, teach me a craft by which I may eat from the work and toil of my own hands.” So Allah taught him how to fashion chainmail.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb used to go out every night, patrolling with the night watch in order to notice any lapse and correct it. He would say, “If even a mangy she-goat were left ungreased on the bank of a canal, I would fear that I would be called to account for her on the Day of Resurrection.” So, O ruler, look at ʿUmar—despite his vigilance and justice, and though no one has reached his level of piety and prayer—see how he pondered and feared the terrors of the Day of Resurrection, while you sit heedless of your subjects’ condition, oblivious to the people under your authority.