, for created beings cannot impose any obligation upon Allah or forbid Him anything. They are far too powerless and insignificant for that. Every blessing from Him is a bounty, and every punishment from Him is just, as stated in the preceding hadith:

“It is only your deeds that I record for you and then recompense you for in full. Whoever finds good should praise Allah, and whoever finds otherwise should blame no one but himself.”

An authentic hadith states:

“The finest supplication for forgiveness is for the servant to say: ‘O Allah, You are my Lord; none has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me, and I am Your servant. I remain faithful to Your covenant and promise as best I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I acknowledge my sin. So forgive me, for none forgives sins but You.’ Whoever says this in the morning, firmly believing in it, then dies that night, will enter Paradise.”

The words, “I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I acknowledge my sin,” acknowledge both the Lord’s favors and the servant’s sin. As one of the early generations said:

“Each morning, I find myself between a blessing descending upon me from Allah and a sin ascending from me to Allah. So I wish to respond to the blessing with gratitude and to the sin by seeking forgiveness.”

Whoever turns away from the commands and prohibitions, the promise of reward and the threat of punishment, looking only to divine decree, has gone astray. Whoever seeks to observe the commands and prohibitions while disregarding divine decree has likewise gone astray. Rather, the believer follows what the Most High has said:

“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”

We therefore worship Him in obedience to His command and seek His help out of faith in divine decree. In an authentic hadith, 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 benefits you, seek Allah’s help, and do not give up. If something befalls you, do not say, ‘If only I had done such and such, this and that would have happened.’ Rather, say, ‘Allah decreed it, and He does whatever He wills,’ for ‘if only’ opens the way for Satan’s work.”