is the absence of health. Hence:

“The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to teach them to say in the sermon of need: ‘We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evils of our deeds.’”

One thus seeks refuge from the evil arising from one’s soul—its sins and transgressions—and from the evils of one’s deeds: the punishments and suffering they entail. For the words “and from the evils of our deeds” may refer either to the evil in the deeds themselves or to their punishments. In Allah’s Book, the word rendered “evils” denotes harm that brings distress to a person, and it may also denote evil deeds. Allah Most High says:

“If good touches you, it distresses them; but if harm befalls you, they rejoice at it.”

And He Most High says:

“But if adversity befalls them because of what their hands have done, then man is indeed ungrateful.”

It is well known that the evil of the soul consists of evil deeds. The evils of those deeds would therefore be the harm and punishments resulting from them. One would thus be seeking refuge from both kinds of evil: evil deeds and their punishments. This is like the supplication for refuge that we are commanded to recite in prayer:

“I seek refuge in You from the punishment of Hell, from the punishment of the grave, from the trials of life and death, and from the trial of the False Messiah.”

He thus commanded us to seek refuge from punishment—the punishment of the Hereafter and that of the intermediate realm—and from the cause of punishment, and from the trials of life and death and the trial of the False Messiah. He mentioned the particular trial—the trial of the False Messiah—after the general trial, for it is the greatest of all trials, as stated in the authentic hadith:

“From the creation of Adam until the coming of the Hour, there is no trial greater than the trial of the False Messiah.”