11. Abu al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib—may Allah be pleased with them both—narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in what he relates from his Lord, Blessed and Exalted, said: “Indeed Allah has recorded the good deeds and the misdeeds, and then He explained this. Whoever resolves to do a good deed but does not carry it out, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, records it with Him as one complete good deed. If he resolves to do it and then performs it, Allah records it as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times as much, or even many multiples beyond that. Whoever resolves to commit an evil deed but refrains from doing it, Allah records with Him one complete good deed. But if he resolves to do it and then commits it, Allah records it as a single evil deed.” (Agreed upon.)

[Explanation]
His words, “Indeed Allah has recorded the good deeds and the misdeeds,” include two kinds of recording:

1. The first is the inscription in the Preserved Tablet. Allah, Exalted is He, has written in the Preserved Tablet everything, as He says, “Indeed, We have created everything according to a measure” (Q 54:49), and, “Everything small or great is inscribed” (Q 54:53). Thus Allah—glorified and exalted—has written the good deeds and the misdeeds in the Preserved Tablet; when the servant actually performs them, Allah records them in a manner that accords with His wisdom, His justice, and His grace.

These, then, are two writings:

A prior inscription known only to Allah—each one of us, therefore, has no knowledge