and they are the wretched. Yet they are close to one another in this respect, ranging from a disbeliever to a wicked person to a sinner who is neither a disbeliever nor a wicked person.

The second premise is that the servant should know that Allah is the Lord, Creator, and Sovereign of everything. There is no Lord besides Him and no Creator other than Him. Whatever He wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass. There is no might or power except through Him, and no refuge from Him except with Him. He has power over all things.

Everything in the heavens and the earth—all entities, their attributes, and their movements—is created by Him, subject to His power, and directed according to His will. Nothing lies beyond His power and dominion, and no one shares any of this with Him. Rather, He—glorified is He—is the only God; He alone has no partner. His is the dominion, and His is all praise, and He has power over all things. The servant is utterly dependent upon Allah in everything, needing Him in every matter and unable to do without Him even for the blink of an eye. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whoever He leads astray, none can guide.

Once these two “premises” are established, we say:

If the servant is inspired to ask Allah for guidance and seek His help in obeying Him, Allah helps and guides him, and this becomes a means of his happiness in this world and the Hereafter. But if the servant is forsaken, so that he neither worships Allah, seeks His help, nor places his trust in Him, he is left to his own might and power. Allah then makes Satan his ally, and he is turned away from the path and becomes wretched in this world and the Hereafter.

Everything that occurs in existence is by Allah’s decree and predestination. No one escapes the destiny decreed for him or goes beyond what has been written for him in the Preserved Tablet, and against Allah no one has