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Son of Adam, if you meet Me with almost the Earth full of sins, I would certainly meet you with its fill of forgiveness [but only] after you have not ascribed any partner to me. Son of Adam, if you commit sins to the point that they reach the clouds of the sky and then you seek My forgiveness, I forgive you and I do not mind." These variable hadith have chains that are at least acceptable as supporting evidence. Ahmad and others have recorded the following hadith qudsi on the authority of Abu Dharr: ,: 01 01 _w., G'' :;..w 0t5-- c \;._ ै "·¤ wm .ȑ· '. , , -ȑଡ଼ c _w., G' ଢ଼ 2 -"_)) ƶ . ?;lj ,,.,,,. ,,. ,,.. ,,. ; "And invoke Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good" (al-Araaf 56). Another important aspect of supplicating is that the supplicant not become hasty and stop his supplications because his hoped-for response has not come as soon as he wished. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "You are responded to as long as you do not become hasty and say, 'I supplicated and it is not being or was not responded to.'" (Recorded by al­ Bukhari and Muslim.) Finally, for one's supplications to be responded to, it is important that one ensures that he is living off of permissible and good sources. This was discussed in detail in the commentary to Hadith #10. "and put your hope in Me" Al-Baitaar notes that Allah knows how weak humans truly are. Sometimes one is overcome by his desires or Satan while at other times he is able to overrule them. However, he is constantly in that struggle. Whenever he does something he knows to be wrong, it is crucial that he returns to Allah, calls upon Allah asking for forgiveness and puts his hope in Allah that He will forgive him. He will then find Allah always willing to forgive him and rescue him. As long as the human is in that state, he is in a state of goodness, and his end result, Allah willing, will be good. 1 Putting one's hope in Allah, according to al-Bugha and Mistu, means fearing Allah's punishment while at the same time hoping for His forgiveness. It is hoping for the mercy of Allah while fearing His greatness and power.2 A believer should also have good expectations of Allah. There is a hadith which states, 1 Cf., al-Baitaar, p. 258. 2 Al-Bugha and Mistu, p. 356. They even say that "hope" can have the meaning of"fear". Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi "Allah has said, 'I am as My servant expects of Me. I am with him wherever he remembers me.' By Allah, Allah has more joy due to the repentance of His servant than one of you has when he finds his lost provisions in an open land. [Allah also has said,] 'Whoever comes close to Me by the span of a hand, I come closer to him by a cubit. And whoever comes closer to me by a cubit, I come closer to him by an arm's length. And if he walks toward Me, I rush toward him." (Recorded by Muslim.) Especially at the time of approaching one's death, one should have good expectations of Allah. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said just three days before his own death, "None of you should die except while he is having good expectations of Allah." (Recorded by Muslim.) To despair of Allah's mercy and forgiveness and not to have any hope in Him is, in fact, one of the great sins. Allah says in the Quran, quoting Jacob, 0_,̤T ѡT J; *T ॆj) j у-="J; 2 Jࢉ; "Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people" (Yoosuf 87). Who Has the Right to Put His Hope in Allah and Have Good Expectations of Him? Allah says in the Quran, ,,. J ,,.. ,,. ,,. : ല,.,, / J .... ... ,,. J ,,. ,,. ,,. ;;:; ...,,,.. J ; / ;;:; ...., ,,,. uY.-े 5jl 6\ ̣ 8 IJ9J IJ_r.: u.fJIJ lyl3 ;fJI o; c ). ). ,,.. ,.,,, ,,. ,.,,, ,,.. ଭ) j࢈ .i.!llj 7\ . രiX ..1:2.:.J V റJ iX "If the believer knew what Allah has with Him of punishment, no one would ever hope to achieve His paradise. And if a disbeliever knew what Allah has with Him of mercy, no one would ever despair of achieving His paradise." (Recorded by Muslim.) In another statement, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also said, 1 Ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh Riyaadh, vol. 5, p. 389. 2 Quoted in Sultaan, p. 361 . Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi "Paradise is closer to one of you than his own shoelace. And the Fire is also like that." (Recorded by al-Bukhari.) A believer must have both hope in and fear of Allah. All humans sin.