He has created,” and His words:

“And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.”

“And we do not know whether evil is intended for those on earth, or whether their Lord intends right guidance for them.”

Similar expressions either leave the agent of evil unnamed, attribute evil to its causes, or include it within a general statement. As for singling out evil and attributing it to the Creator of all things, wise speech does not call for this, because of what is required by the reality that demands well-founded propriety, not merely for a distinct … (1).

Here one understands why many creatures enter Paradise without having performed any deeds, and why creatures are brought into being for it. The Fire, however, is entered only on account of deeds, and none will enter it except those who have lived in this world. One also understands the true meaning of:

“Whatever evil befalls you is from yourself,”

and:

“Whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned,”

even though that evil is part of the divine decree; and the statement of al-Siddīq and other Companions:

“If it is correct, it is from Allah; if it is mistaken, it is from me and from Satan.”

There are other such matters in which every thinker has discerned some portion of the truth and grasped some thread of what is correct. Yet none follow the various aspects of truth and believe in the entire Book except those endowed with understanding—and how few they are! This is a brief indication of divine ordainment as a whole.

As for the particular significance of the servant’s capacity and the acts he acquires among all other causes, Allah—Mighty and Majestic—has distinguished the human being by making his knowledge produce in him, in this world, traits of character, states, and effects, as well as other things in the Hereafter. This has not been granted to His other creatures. And the ways in which He has distinguished