His creating and decreeing, however, concern both the servant and created beings as a whole. He therefore acts for reasons of wisdom pertaining to His creation in its entirety(1), even if this entails harm for some people. In the same way, He sends down rain because of the mercy, universal blessing, and wisdom it contains(2), even though some people may thereby suffer harm(3) when their homes collapse, their journeys are interrupted(4), or their livelihoods are suspended. Likewise, He sends His Prophet [Muhammad]—may Allah bless him and grant him peace(5)—because sending him brings universal mercy, even though it entails the loss of leadership suffered by some people and their consequent distress. If unbelief is decreed for a disbeliever, Allah decrees it because of the wisdom and general good inherent in it. He punishes him because his voluntary act makes him deserving of punishment—even though that act was decreed(6)—and because of the wisdom and general good inherent in punishing him.

Drawing an analogy between Allah’s actions and those of His servants is manifestly mistaken. When a master commands his slave to do something, he does so because he needs it and for a purpose of his own. If he rewards him for doing it, that is a compensatory exchange. He seeks no wise purpose beyond the accomplishment of [what was commanded](7), nor is he the creator of the act performed by the one commanded. If the master were not to compensate the one he had commanded, or were not(8) to discharge the right owed to his slave who attends to his needs, he would be unjust—like one who takes merchandise without paying(9) its price, or who derives the full benefit of a hired worker’s labor without paying him his wage in full.