ever ready.’ This ʿatīd (ever-ready) watcher—that is, the one who is constantly present—writes down everything: every word you utter, whether it counts for you, against you, or is merely idle speech that is neither for nor against you. When Imām Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—fell ill and began to groan from the pain, he was told, “So-and-so—I think it was Ṭāwūs—says that the angel records even the groaning of the sick person.” Realizing that the angel writes down a patient’s moans when the pain forces him to groan, Imām Aḥmad immediately stopped. He steeled himself and would no longer groan—out of fear that it might be written against him. Such were those who safeguarded their tongues and limbs and understood the true magnitude of matters: he restrained himself even from groaning. As for us, we ask Allah to treat us and you with His pardon,