and more deservedly so.

The view held by most Quran commentators is that “good” and “evil” here mean blessings and calamities. They do not refer merely to a person’s freely chosen actions considered as good or evil deeds.

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In Allah’s Book, the terms “good” and “evil” encompass both meanings. Allah Most High said concerning the hypocrites:

“If good touches you, it distresses them; but if evil befalls you, they rejoice at it. Yet if you are patient and fear Allah, their plotting will not harm you at all.”

He Most High also said:

“If good befalls you, it distresses them; but if a calamity befalls you, they say, ‘We took our precautions beforehand,’ and turn away rejoicing.”

He Most High also said:

“We tested them with good things and bad, so that they might return.”

He Most High also said:

“Indeed, when We let man taste mercy from Us, he rejoices in it; but if evil befalls them because of what their hands have sent forth, then man is indeed ungrateful.”

He Most High said concerning the disbelievers who regarded Moses and those with him as an evil omen:

“When good came to them, they said, ‘This is our due.’ But if evil befell them, they attributed it to the ill omen of Moses and those with him.”

He mentioned this after saying:

“We afflicted Pharaoh’s people with years of drought and a shortage of crops, so that they might take heed.”

As for deeds that are commanded or forbidden, these terms occur in such statements as His words, Most High:

“Whoever