this address through its general application, and all the more emphatically. This differs from His words:

“And We have sent you as a Messenger to mankind.”

This applies exclusively to him. Nevertheless, whoever conveys his message is included in the meaning of the address. As he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“Convey from me, even if only one verse.”

He also said:

“May Allah brighten the face of a person who hears a hadith from us and conveys it to someone who has not heard it.”

And he said:

“Let those present convey it to those absent.”

And:

“The scholars are the heirs of the prophets.”

Allah Most High has also said in the Quran:

“This Quran has been revealed to me so that I may warn you through it, and whomever it reaches.”

The point here is that “good” is attributed to Him, glorified is He, in every respect. “Evil” is attributed to Him because He created it, just as He created “good.” Hence He said:

“All is from Allah.”

Yet He created it only for a wise purpose. It is not attributed to Him insofar as it is evil. Rather, it is attributed to the soul, which does evil through it, not for a wise purpose. It therefore deserves to have evil and bad things attributed to it. For in committing sins, the soul does not seek a good that would make committing them preferable for its sake. Rather, anything of that kind belongs among good deeds. Thus Allah’s actions are good: He never does anything foul or evil.

This encompasses both evils suffered as recompense and evil deeds. For His words, “Whatever good befalls you” and “whatever evil,” refer to blessings and calamities, as explained earlier. But if a calamity comes from a person’s own self because he has sinned, then the sin itself comes from his own self all the more clearly. Thus evils undoubtedly come from his own self.

It is only alongside good that He attributes them to Himself, in His words: