—a slender stick. He lowered his head and began to draw lines in the earth with it, as though weighed down with concern. Then he said, “There is not one of you but that his seat in Paradise and his seat in Hell have already been recorded. Every son of Adam has it written: his place in Paradise if he is among its people, and his place in Hell if he is among its people. This was inscribed fifty thousand years before the heavens and the earth were created. We ask Allah to make us and you among the fortunate.”

When he had said this, they asked, “Messenger of Allah, should we not then abandon action and rely on what has been written? If everything is already decreed, why act at all?” He replied, “Do not give up action, for Paradise is attained only through deeds and Hell is reached only through deeds. No one will enter Hell except the one who behaves like the people of Hell, and no one will enter Paradise except the one who behaves like the people of Paradise. So act, for everyone will be aided to do that for which he was created. Those destined for happiness will find the deeds of the happy made easy for them, and those destined for wretchedness will find the deeds of the wretched made easy for them.”

He then recited: “But as for him who is stingy, deems himself self-sufficient, and denies the best reward—We shall ease his way toward hardship” ⦗92:8-10⦘.