in this world before the Hereafter, so that your repentance will be sound.

As for those who do not repent, Allah the Exalted says: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating anything with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills” (al-Nisāʾ 48). Therefore, for the unrepentant: if their deed amounts to disbelief, it will not be forgiven; if it falls short of disbelief, it lies under Allah’s will—He may punish for it if He wills, or He may pardon.

If the sin is among the minor offences, such minor sins are erased by avoiding the major ones and by performing certain righteous deeds.

The author then cited several hadiths in this chapter, all of which instil in a person robust hope in Allah, so that one meets one’s Lord expecting His mercy and letting that hope outweigh fear.

Some of these narrations are unrestricted in wording yet are regulated by other texts—for example, the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “Whoever meets Allah without associating anything with Him will enter Paradise, and whoever meets Him while associating something with Him will enter the Fire.” What is meant here is polytheism and likewise disbelief—such as the disbelief of denial, arrogance, and the like—for all of that falls under the association that will not be forgiven. We ask Allah to make us among those who hope for His mercy and fear His punishment.

6/417 — ʿItbān ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him), one of those who fought at Badr, related: “I used to lead my people, the Banū Sālim, in prayer, and between them and me lay a valley which, when the rains came, overflowed, making it hard for me to cross before reaching their mosque. So I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘My eyesight has weakened, and the valley between me and my people floods whenever it rains, and that makes it difficult for me…’”