Al-Qawaid al-Hisan li-Tafsir al-Quran - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (137)

Al-Qawaid al-Hisan li-Tafsir al-QuranAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

Principle Fifty-Five: A servant’s deeds are recorded for him in three ways: 1) whatever he himself actually performs; 2) whatever good work he begins but, through no fault of his own, is unable to complete—its reward is perfected for him; and 3) whatever consequences flow from his deeds. All three categories are affirmed in the Quran.

Deeds personally carried out. The scriptural proofs for this are too numerous to list, among them: “because of what you used to do” (al-Māʾidah 5:105); “It will have whatever it has earned and it will bear whatever it has incurred” (al-Baqarah 2:286); and “My deeds are mine, and your deeds are yours” (Yūnus 10:41), and the like.
Deeds that a person sets out to do but cannot finish. Allah says, “Whoever leaves his home migrating to Allah and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward has already become incumbent upon Allah” (al-Nisāʾ 4:100). This man set out with the intention of hijrah, yet death reached him before he could complete it, so Allah counts the deed as finished and grants him its full reward. The same applies to anyone who embarks on a righteous act and is then prevented—by death, physical incapacity, lack of means, or any internal or external obstacle. If, were it not for that impediment, he would certainly have completed the act, his reward is guaranteed by Allah. “Actions are but by intentions.”(1) Likewise, “Those who strive for Our sake—We will surely guide them to Our paths” (al-ʿAnkabūt 29:69); whoever exerts himself in doing good, Allah will lead him to the path that reaches it, whether he manages to finish the deed or is hindered along the way.
The effects that spring from a person’s deeds. Allah says, “Surely We give life to the dead and record what they sent ahead” (Yā-Sīn 36:12)—that is, the deeds they themselves performed—“and their traces,” meaning the consequences that arise from those deeds, for good or ill, in this world and the next. Concerning those who fight in Allah’s cause He also says, “That is because they suffer neither thirst…”

(1) Reported in al-Bukhārī and Muslim: “Indeed, actions are judged by intentions.”

(1) Agreed upon, from the hadith of Umar: al-Bukhari, no. 1; Muslim, no. 1907.

القاعدة الخامسة والخمسون: يُكتب للعبد عمله الذي باشره، ويكمل له ما شرع فيه وعجز عن تكميله قهراً عنه، ويكتب له ما نشأ عن عمله فهذه الأمور الثلاثة وردت في القرآن. أما الأعمال التي باشرها العبد فأكثر من أن تحصى النصوص الدالة عليها، كقوله: ﴿بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ﴾ ، [المائدة: ١٠٥] ، ﴿لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ﴾ ، [البقرة: ٢٨٦] ، ﴿لِي عَمَلِي وَلَكُمْ عَمَلُكُمْ﴾ ، [يونس: ٤١] ، ونحو ذلك. أما الأعمال التي شرع العبد فيها وعجز العبد عن تكميلها: فكقوله تعالى: ﴿وَمَنْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ مُهَاجِراً إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ الْمَوْتُ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ﴾ ، [النساء: ١٠٠] ، فهذا خرج قاصداً الهجرة، وأدركه الأجل قبل تكميل عمله، فأتم الله له ما قصد إليه وأعطاه أجره، فكل من شرع في عمل من أعمال الخير، ثم عجز عن إتمامه بموت أو عجز بدني أو عجز مالي أو مانع داخلي أو خارجي، وكان من نيته ـ لولا المانع ـ إكمالُه فقد وقع أجره على الله. فإنما الأعمال بالنيات (١) ، وقال تعالى: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا﴾ ، [العنكبوت: ٦٩] ، فكل من اجتهد في الخير هداه الله الطريق الموصلة إليه، سواء كمل ذلك العمل أو حصل له عائق عنه. وأما آثار أعمال العبد: فقد قال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّا نَحْنُ نُحْيِ الْمَوْتَى وَنَكْتُبُ مَا قَدَّمُوا﴾ ، [يّس: ١٢] ، أيْ: باشروا عمله ﴿وَآَثَارَهُمْ﴾ ، التي ترتبت على أعمالهم من خير وشر في الدنيا والآخرة، وقال في المجاهدين: ﴿ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ لا يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌ

(١) متفق عليه من حديث عمر: البخاري برقم ١ ومسلم برقم ١٩٠٧