those who discipline themselves and their households and govern their realms do not weigh their judgments by the art of logic, except to a very limited extent. Those who follow it are generally left hesitant and inactive.

If those who hold these judgments depended on weighing them by this art in order to understand and apply them, the harm they suffered would far outweigh any benefit they derived. Moreover, all the knowledge, moral qualities, and actions they prescribe are insufficient to save anyone from Allah’s punishment, let alone secure the bliss of the Hereafter. Allah Most High said:

“Until, when they have all gathered there, the last of them will say of the first, ‘Our Lord, these led us astray, so give them double punishment in the Fire.’ He will say, ‘Each will have double, but you do not know.’”

He also said:

“Have they not travelled through the earth and seen how those before them met their end? They were more numerous than them, greater in strength, and left more impressive traces on the earth, yet what they earned availed them nothing.”

—up to His words—“the disbelievers.”

Here He related what He also related in Surah al-A‘rāf: when those who turned away from what the messengers brought saw Allah’s punishment, they affirmed Allah’s oneness and renounced associating partners with Him, but that did not benefit them. Likewise, He related that Pharaoh—who denied both Allah’s oneness and the message—said, when drowning overtook him:

“I believe that there is no deity except the One in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of those who submit to Him.”

Allah said: “Now? When you had disobeyed before and were among the