As for someone who sins yet considers himself entirely free of sin because Allah is the agent, but regards himself as the agent when he obeys, he is the worst of creation. As for the person who regards himself as the agent in both cases and the person who regards his Lord as the agent in both cases and sees no sin on his own part, the latter has a worse outcome than the Qadarī, while the Qadarī has a worse starting point than he does, as explained at length elsewhere.
In this regard, people fall into “four categories”: those who become angry for their Lord’s sake but not their own; those who do the reverse; those who become angry for both; and those who become angry for neither. Likewise, in their recognition of the divine decree, they fall into “four categories”: those who regard a good deed as Allah’s doing and an evil deed as their own; those who do the reverse; those who regard both as their Lord’s doing; and those who regard both as their own doing.
These four categories concerning awareness of Allah’s lordship correspond to those four categories concerning awareness of His right to worship. The latter classification concerns what people do for Allah and for themselves, while the former concerns what they do through Allah and through themselves. The pure category is to act for Allah through Allah’s help, acting neither for oneself nor through one’s own power.
Our concern here is to classify people with respect to what they do for Allah. The highest state is that of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and those who follow him: they patiently endure the physical and verbal harm people inflict upon them, while striving in Allah’s cause. They punish, become angry, and exact retribution for Allah’s sake, not their own. They punish because Allah commands that the person in question be punished and retribution must be exacted from him, as in fighting the disbelievers and enforcing the prescribed punishments.
The lowest are the opposite of these: they become angry, exact retribution, and punish for their own sake, not for their Lord’s. If one of them is harmed or his desires are opposed, he becomes angry, exacts retribution, and punishes. Yet if Allah’s prohibitions are violated or His rights neglected, it does not concern him. This is the condition of the disbelievers and hypocrites.