and recognizes it when calamities befall him, and so remains patient. As for his sins, he seeks forgiveness and repents, as Allah says:

“So be patient; indeed, Allah’s promise is true. And seek forgiveness for your sin.”

But whoever reverses this—seeing the divine decree in his sins and his own agency in his good deeds—is among the greatest offenders. Whoever sees his own agency in both is a Qadarī. Whoever sees the divine decree in both, yet neither acknowledges his sin nor seeks Allah’s forgiveness, is of the same kind as the polytheists.

The believer, however, says:

“I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me.”

As Allah says in the authentic divine hadith:

“My servants, these are only your deeds, which I record for you and then repay you for in full. Whoever finds good, let him praise Allah; whoever finds otherwise, let him blame no one but himself.”

Our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, followed the command to endure patiently the harm inflicted by people. In the two Sahīh collections, ʿĀ’ishah said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, never struck a servant of his, an animal, or anything else with his hand, except when fighting in Allah’s cause. He never took revenge for any personal wrong done to him, unless Allah’s sacred limits were violated. When Allah’s sacred limits were violated, nothing could withstand his anger until he had exacted retribution for Allah’s sake.”

Anas said: “I served the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for ten years. Never did he say about anything I had done, ‘Why did you do it?’ or about anything I had not done, ‘Why did you not do it?’ Whenever a member of his household reproached me for something, he would say, ‘Leave him alone, leave him alone. Had something been decreed, it would have happened.’”

In the Sunan collections, it is reported “from Ibn Masʿūd—may Allah be pleased with him—that he mentioned to the Prophet