for him, even though He has decreed that he commit sins? There are two answers to this:

First: People’s deeds are not included in the hadith; rather, it concerns the blessings and calamities that befall a believer. Hence the Prophet said:

“If prosperity comes his way, he gives thanks, and that is good for him,”

and so forth. This is the apparent meaning of the wording, so there is no difficulty.

Second: Even supposing that their deeds are included, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Whoever is pleased by his good deed and distressed by his evil deed is a believer.”

If it is decreed that he do good, this pleases him. If, however, what is decreed for him distresses him, he deserves punishment only if he does not repent. If he repents, the evil deed is replaced with a good deed, for which he gives thanks. If he does not repent, he is afflicted with calamities that expiate it, and he bears them patiently, so that this is good for him. The Prophet said, “Allah decrees nothing for the believer”; [and a believer in the full sense is one whom sin does not harm] (*); rather, he repents of it. His case is then as described in several reports:

“A servant may commit a sin and enter Paradise because of it: he commits it, then continues repenting of it until, through his repentance from it, he enters Paradise.”

Sin brings about the servant’s humility, submission, seeking of forgiveness, and recognition of his poverty and need before Allah, glory be to Him.

Among the lessons in His words, “is from yourself,” is that the servant should not place his trust in his own soul, for evil comes only from it. He should not occupy himself with blaming and censuring others, but should instead turn his attention to his sins and repent of them, seek refuge in Allah from the evil of his own soul and his evil deeds, and ask Allah to help him obey Him. Through this, good comes to him and evil is averted from him. This is why the most beneficial