and he, peace and blessings be upon him, also said, “If you did not commit sins, Allah would do away with you and bring a people who do sin, then seek Allah’s forgiveness, and He would forgive them.”

Hence the human being is instructed to draw near and stay on target as best he can. He ﷺ then said, “And know that none of you will be saved by his deeds,” meaning that no one will escape the Fire on account of his deeds alone. Deeds can never reach the level of gratitude that is due to Allah—Majestic and Exalted—nor fulfill all the rights He has over His servants. Rather, Allah the Exalted envelops the servant in His mercy and thereby forgives him.

When he ﷺ declared, “None of you will be saved by his deeds,” they asked, “Not even you?” He replied, “Not even I—unless Allah envelops me in mercy from Him.” This proves that, regardless of a person’s rank or sainthood, he cannot be delivered by his deeds alone—not even the Prophet ﷺ. Had Allah not bestowed His favor upon him by forgiving his past and future sins, his deeds would not have rescued him.

Someone might object: “But there are texts in the Qur’an and the Sunnah indicating that righteous deeds save one from the Fire and admit one to Paradise, such as His words: ‘Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while he is a believer, We will surely give them a good life, and We will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do’ (Qur’an 16:97). How can this be reconciled with the hadith just mentioned?”