(84) “Whoever comes with a good deed shall have something better than it; and whoever comes with an evil deed—those who committed evil shall be recompensed only for what they used to do.”

Allah Most High tells of the manifold increase of His grace and the perfection of His justice. He says: “Whoever comes with a good deed.” He stipulated that the doer must come with it because a person may perform a good deed, yet it may be accompanied by something that prevents its acceptance or nullifies it. Such a person has not come with the good deed. “A good deed” is a generic term encompassing everything Allah and His Messenger have commanded, including words and outward and inward deeds pertaining to the right of Allah Most High and the right (1) of His servants. “He shall have something better than it” [that is, something greater and more excellent. In another verse: “He shall have ten times the like thereof”] (2)

This multiplication of the reward for a good deed is assured. It may also be accompanied by factors that increase the multiplication, as Allah Most High says: “Allah multiplies for whomever He wills, and Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing,” according to the condition of the doer and his deed, the benefit it brings, its context, and the place in which it is performed. “And whoever comes with an evil deed”—that is, everything the Lawgiver has prohibited as unlawful—“those who committed evil shall be recompensed only for what they used to do.” This is like His statement: “Whoever comes with a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; and whoever comes with an evil deed shall be recompensed only with its like, and they shall not be wronged.”