from whom refuge is sought, since the one from whom refuge is sought is feared and dreaded, whereas the one in whom refuge is sought is invoked, appealed to for protection, and turned to for shelter. One and the same aspect cannot be both sought and fled from; this is possible, however, when two different aspects are considered. Thus, in the hadith narrated in the two Sahīh collections from al-Barā’ ibn Āzib, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught a man to say at bedtime:

“O Allah, I submit myself to You, turn my face toward You, place my back in Your protection, and entrust my affairs to You, in hope of You and fear of You. There is no escape and no refuge from You except with You. I believe in Your Book which You have revealed and in Your Prophet whom You have sent.”

He thus made clear that none but He can deliver anyone from Him, and that refuge from Him can be sought only with Him. Where the two verbs competed to govern the same complement, he made the second verb govern it. It is well known that the respect in which He delivers differs from the respect in which deliverance is sought from Him. Likewise, the respect in which refuge is sought with Him differs from the respect in which refuge is sought from Him—whether this is said to relate to what He brings into being, His acts that subsist in Him, His attributes, or His Essence considered in two different respects.

In Sahīh Muslim, Abdullāh ibn Umar reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Those who act justly will be with Allah on pulpits of light, to the right of the Most Merciful—and both of His hands are right hands—those who are just in their judgments, with their families, and in whatever is entrusted to their care.”

The two hands are mentioned in several hadiths, which state that both are right hands while also affirming the superiority of the right hand. A number of scholars have said: Since the attributes of created beings involve imperfection, and a person’s left hand is deficient in strength and deficient in action