“I heard the Messenger of Allah …,” and so on: this is ʿUbādah’s evidence for what has just been stated.
“The first thing Allah created was the Pen”: that is, it was the very first thing Allah brought into existence before He created the heavens and the earth—though not necessarily the first of all created entities without exception.
“Whoever dies without this”: that is, without believing in the divine decree (qadar).
“Is not of me”: meaning, I disown him, because he denies Allah’s timeless knowledge of His servants’ deeds, and whoever does so is an unbeliever.
“Whoever does not believe in the decree”: that is, in whatever Allah has apportioned and ordained among His creatures.
“Allah will burn him in the Fire”: because of his disbelief and innovation—he has rejected Allah’s perfect power, His irresistible will, and His creation of all things, and he has called His scriptures and messengers liars.
Overall meaning of the report: ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit —may Allah be pleased with him—admonishes his son al-Walīd to believe in the decree, both its good and its bitter aspects, and he explains the wholesome fruits and praiseworthy results that follow from such belief in this world and the next, as well as the evils and dangers that come from denying it. He supports his counsel with the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ, which confirms that Allah determined all measures and commanded the Pen to record them before any of these created things existed; thus nothing occurs in the universe until the Day of Resurrection except by divine will and decree.
Relevance of the report to the chapter: it establishes the obligation to believe in the decree, warns against rejecting it and thereby falling into unbelief, and explains the threatened punishment for doing so.
Lessons derived from the report:
- The obligation to believe in the divine decree.
- The severe warning directed at those who deny the decree.
- Affirmation of the Pen and its recording of past and future decrees until the Hour is established.