the answer is that allotted shares encompass actions just as they encompass felicity, and Allah Most High has decreed that the latter should come about through the former. If a servant abandons deeds, supposing that felicity will come to him nonetheless, that abandonment becomes a cause of his being among the wretched.

Here two groups have gone astray: one denied divine decree and predestination while affirming the commands and prohibitions; the other believed in divine decree and predestination but fell short in observing the commands and prohibitions. The latter are worse than the former, for they resemble the polytheists who said:

“If Allah had willed, we would not have associated partners with Him.” [Surah al-Anʿām 148]

The former resemble the Magians.

But if what is meant by these words is that a servant should not rely upon his deeds or suppose that his own striving will save him, then this meaning is sound. The means employed by human beings—or indeed by others—do not in themselves guarantee any outcome, whether in this world or the Hereafter. Rather, these means may be necessary along with other things that come from Allah’s bounty and mercy and lie beyond the servant’s power. Nothing makes an outcome inevitable except Allah’s will: whatever He wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has explained all of this, and it is known to those whose insight Allah has illuminated.

As for distinguishing between what is within one’s power and what is beyond it, Sahīh Muslim relates from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, though there is good in both. Strive for what