Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 37 of Nawawi
Hadith number 37 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in faithful English translation.
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Updated on 07 October 2026 at 4:51 AM
📖 29 min readThis hadith belongs to the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), the most studied hadith compilation in the world: foundations of faith, worship and character, all authentic narrations.
The two authentic collections report from the hadith of Abu Hourayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Allah says, "When My servant wills to commit an evil deed, write it not against him before he commits it. If he commits it, write it against him at its equivalent; if he abandons it for Me, write him a good deed. And if he wills to perform a good deed without performing it, write him a good deed; if he performs it, write it for him tenfold up to seven hundred times." Such is the wording of al-Boukhari. And in a version of Mouslim, Allah the Most High says, "When My servant speaks of willing to perform a good deed, I write it him a good deed so long as he performs it not; when he performs it, I write it him tenfold. And when he speaks of willing to commit an evil deed, I pardon it him so long as he commits it not; when he commits it, I write it him at its equivalent."
And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, the angels said, Lord! Your servant wants to commit an evil deed, and he is well informed of it. He said, watch him; if he commits it, write it against him at its equivalent; if he abandons it, write him a good deed, for he abandoned it only out of regard for Me. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "When one of you does good in his Islam, every good deed he does is written for him tenfold up to seven hundred times, and every evil deed he commits is written him at its equivalent, until he meets Allah the Most High."
In the two authentic collections, from Abu Hourayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "Every deed of the son of Adam is multiplied, the good deed tenfold up to seven hundred times. Allah the Most High says, save the fast, it is for Me and I reward it: he abandons his desire, his food and his drink for Me." And in a version of Mouslim, after his words, "up to seven hundred times," "up to what Allah wills." And in the Sahih of Mouslim, from Abu Dhar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and the Majestic, says, "Whoever does a good deed has its tenfold, or more; whoever does an evil deed has its retribution the like, or he is pardoned."
And in the same collection, from Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Whoever intends a good deed without performing it, a good deed is written him; if he performs it, ten are written him. Whoever intends an evil deed without performing it, nothing is written him; if he performs it, a single evil deed is written him." And in the Mousnad, from Khouraym ibn Fatik, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Whoever intends a good deed without performing it, and Allah knows he made it felt to his heart and desired it, a good deed is written him. Whoever intends an evil deed without performing it, nothing is written him; if he performs it, a single one is written him, without multiplication. And whoever does a good deed, it is for him tenfold; and whoever spends a spending in the path of Allah, it is for him seven hundred times."
In this sense, other multiple hadiths. These texts contained therefore the writing of good deeds and evil deeds, and the intention of good deeds and evil deeds: four types.
The first type: the performance of good deeds, and the good deed is multiplied tenfold up to seven hundred times, and up to multiple times. Multiplication tenfold is required for all good deeds, as the words of the Most High indicate,
"Whoever comes with a good deed has its tenfold."
Al-An'am, 160
As for multiplication beyond ten, for whom Allah wills to multiply, His words indicate it:
"Those who spend their wealth in the path of Allah are like a grain that produced seven ears, a hundred grains in each ear; and Allah multiplies for whom He wills, and Allah is vast, omniscient."
Al-Baqara, 261
This verse indicates that spending in the path of Allah is multiplied to seven hundred times. In the Sahih of Mouslim, from Ibn Mas'oud: a man came with a tethered she-camel and said, Messenger of Allah! It is in the path of Allah. He said, "On the Day of Resurrection it shall be worth to you seven hundred she-camels." And in the Mousnad, by a disputed chain, from Abu 'Oubayda ibn al-Jarrah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Whoever spends an abundant spending in the path of Allah, it is at seven hundred times; and whoever spends upon himself and his family, or visits a sick man, or withholds a harm, the good deed is tenfold." And Abu Dawoud reports from the hadith of Sahl ibn Mou'adh, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "The prayer, the fast and the remembrance are multiplied upon spending in the path of Allah at seven hundred times."
And Ibn Abi Hatim reports by his chain from al-Hasan, from 'Imran ibn Houssayn, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Whoever sends a spending in the path of Allah and remains in his house has, for every dirham, seven hundred dirhams; and whoever makes the campaign himself in the path of Allah has, for every dirham, seven hundred thousand dirhams." Then he recited this verse,
"And Allah multiplies for whom He wills."
Al-Baqara, 261
And Ibn Hibban reports in his Sahih from the hadith of 'Issa ibn al-Mousayyib, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Omar: when this verse was sent down,
"Those who spend their wealth in the path of Allah are like a grain that produced seven ears."
Al-Baqara, 261
the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Lord! Increase for my community." And Allah the Most High sent down,
"Who is it that lends to Allah a beautiful loan, that He multiply it for him many times?"
Al-Hadid, 11
He said, Lord! Increase for my community. And Allah the Most High sent down,
"Only the patient have their reward in full, without account."
Az-Zoumar, 10
And Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of 'Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jou'dan, from Abu 'Outhman an-Nahdi, from Abu Hourayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Allah multiplies the good deed to two thousand thousand good deeds." Then Abu Hourayra recited,
"And if it be a good deed, He multiplies it, and grants from Himself an immense reward."
An-Nisa, 40
And he said, "When Allah says, an immense reward, who measures its measure?" And it is reported from Abu Hourayra in a version stopped at the Companion. And at-Tirmidhi reports from the hadith of Ibn 'Omar, in raised form, whoever enters the market and says, "There is no god but Allah, alone, without associate, to Him the sovereignty, to Him the praise, He gives life and death, and He is living, dies not, goodness is in His hand, and He is powerful over everything," Allah writes him a million good deeds, erases from him a million evil deeds and raises him a million degrees. And from the hadith of Tamim ad-Dari, in raised form, "Whoever says ten times, I testify that there is no god but Allah, alone, without associate, a single god, without partner, who took not a companion nor a child, and that there is none like Him," Allah writes him forty million good deeds. In both chains there is weakness. And at-Tabarani reports, by a weak chain also, from Ibn 'Omar, in raised form, "Whoever says, Glory to Allah, Allah writes him a hundred thousand good deeds and twenty-four thousand good deeds."
His words in the hadith of Abu Hourayra, "save the fast, it is for Me and I reward it," indicate that the measure of the multiplication of the reward of the fast is known only to Allah the Most High, for it is the best species of patience, and only the patient have their reward in full, without account. And this sense is reported from part of the righteous Ancients, among them Ka'b and others. We have already mentioned, in the commentary of the hadith, "the beautiful Islam of a man is that he leave what does not concern him," that the multiplication of good deeds beyond ten is according to the beauty of the Islam, as the hadith of Abu Hourayra and others state explicitly, according to the perfection of disinterestedness, according to the merit of the deed in itself, and according to the need one has of it. And we mentioned from the hadith of Ibn 'Omar that the words of the Most High, "Whoever comes with a good deed has its tenfold," were sent down concerning the Bedouins, and that His words, "And if it be a good deed, He multiplies it, and grants from Himself an immense reward," were sent down concerning the Emigrants.
The second type: the performance of evil deeds, and the evil deed is written at its equivalent, without multiplication, as Allah the Most High says,
"And whoever comes with an evil deed is recompensed only the like, and they shall not be wronged."
Yunus, 27
His words, "a single evil deed is written him," indicate it is not multiplied. As he made explicit in another hadith, the evil deed sometimes grows by the nobility of time or place, as the Most High says,
"The number of the months, with Allah, is twelve months, in the book of Allah, the day He created the heavens and the earth: four of them are sacred; such is the upright religion, wrong not therefore yourselves therein."
At-Tawba, 36
'Ali ibn Abi Talha reports from Ibn 'Abbas concerning this verse: His words, "wrong not yourselves therein," apply to all the months, then He distinguished four of them, declared them sacred, magnified their prohibitions, and made sin therein greater, and the righteous deed and the reward greater. And Qatada said concerning this verse, "Know that injustice in the sacred months is a greater sin and a greater burden than the rest; and injustice, in every state, is intolerable, but Allah the Most High magnifies of His affair what He wills, our Lord, the Most High." And it is reported in two raised hadiths that evil deeds are multiplied in Ramadan, but neither of the two chains is authentic. And Allah the Most High says,
"The pilgrimage is made in known months; whoever undertakes therein the pilgrimage engages therein neither relation with women, nor depravity, nor dispute in the pilgrimage."
Al-Baqara, 197
Ibn 'Omar said, depravity (fousouq) is what one commits of Allah's disobediences, game or other. And from him, depravity is committing Allah's disobediences in the Sanctuary. And the Most High says,
"And whoever intends therein a deviation by injustice, We shall make him taste a painful punishment."
Al-Hajj, 25
And a group of Companions avoided dwelling in the Sanctuary for fear of committing sins therein, among them Ibn 'Abbas and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As. 'Omar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz did the same. And 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As used to say, "The sin therein is greater." It is reported from 'Omar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, "Committing seventy sins," meaning outside Mecca, "is dearer to me than committing one at Mecca." And from Moujahid, evil deeds are multiplied at Mecca as good deeds are. And Ibn Jourayj says, "It has reached me that sin at Mecca is worth a hundred sins, and the good deed likewise." And Ishaq ibn Mansour says, I asked Ahmad, concerning a hadith, "Is the evil deed written beyond a single one?" He said, "No; we heard that only concerning Mecca, for the nobility of the place, even were men at Aden 'Abyan to have intended it." And Ishaq ibn Rahouwayh said as Ahmad. And the words, "even were a man at Aden 'Abyan to have intended it," are of the words of Ibn Mas'oud, and we shall mention them further on, Allah willing.
Evil deeds may also be multiplied by the nobility of their doer, the strength of his knowledge of Allah and his nearness to Him: whoever disobeys the sovereign upon his own carpet is in a greater crime than whoever disobeys him from afar. That is why Allah threatened specially His privileged servants, in case of disobedience, with a multiplication of punishment, even though He had preserved them from it, to show them His merit towards them by their preservation, as the Most High says,
"And had We not fortified you, you would have almost inclined towards them a little. Then We would have made you taste the double of life and the double of death."
Al-Isra, 74-75
And the Most High says,
"O wives of the Prophet! Whoever of you commits a manifest turpitude shall have a double punishment, and that is easy for Allah. And whoever of you is submissive to Allah and His messenger and does good, We shall give her twice her reward, and We have prepared for her a generous provision."
Al-Ahzab, 30-31
'Ali ibn al-Houssayn interpreted the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as the family of the Prophet among the sons of Hachim, because of their nearness to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
The third type: the intention of good deeds: a complete good deed is written, even without performance, as in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas and others. In the hadith of Abu Hourayra reported by Mouslim, already cited, "When My servant speaks of willing to perform a good deed, I write it him a good deed." The apparent is that by speech is meant the speech of the soul, which is intention. And in the hadith of Khouraym ibn Fatik, "Whoever intends a good deed without performing it, and Allah knows he made it felt to his heart and desired it, a good deed is written him." That indicates that intention here means the decided resolution, accompanied by the desire of the deed, not the mere passing thought that dissolves without resolution nor decision.
Abu ad-Darda said, "Whoever goes to his bed intending to pray the night, and his eyes master him until morning, what he intended to do is written him." It is reported also in raised form, and Ibn Majah reports it in raised form. Ad-Daraqoutni said, the preserved version is stopped at the Companion. And its sense is reported from the hadith of 'Aicha, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And it is reported from Sa'id ibn al-Mousayyib, whoever intends a prayer, a fast, a pilgrimage, an umra or an expedition, and is prevented from it, Allah the Most High grants him to attain what he intended to do. And Abu 'Imran al-Jouni said, an angel is called, "Write to such a one this and that." He says, O Lord! He did not perform it. Allah says, "He had it in intention."
And Zayd ibn Aslam said, a man went from scholar to scholar saying, "Who will indicate to me a deed that I never cease doing for Allah? For I love not that an hour of night or day come upon me without my doing something for Allah the Most High." It was said to him, "You have found your need: do good as much as you can; when you weaken or abandon, intend the deed, for whoever intends a deed of good is like whoever performs it. And when intention is accompanied by a word or a step, the reward is confirmed, and its holder becomes like the doer."
As Abu Kabcha reports from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "This low world is only for four men: a servant to whom Allah granted wealth and knowledge, who fears his Lord thereby, maintains therein his kin and knows therein the right of Allah: that one is in the best of dwellings. A servant to whom Allah granted knowledge without wealth: he is sincere in intention, and says, were I to have wealth, I would do the deed of such a one: he is by his intention, and their rewards are equal. A servant to whom Allah granted wealth without knowledge: he gropes in his wealth without knowledge, fears not his Lord therein, maintains not his kin therein and knows not therein the right of Allah: that one is in the vilest of dwellings. And a servant to whom Allah granted neither wealth nor knowledge: he says, were I to have wealth, I would do therein the deed of such a one: he is by his intention, and their burdens are equal."
Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi report it, such being the wording of the latter, and Ibn Majah also. His words, "their rewards are equal," are carried upon the equality of the two in the root of the reward of the deed, without multiplication: multiplication is specific to whoever performs the deed, not to whoever willed it without performing it, for were the two equal in every respect, ten good deeds would be written whoever intends a good deed without performing it, contrary to all the texts. It is indicated by the words of the Most High,
"Allah preferred the fighters, with their wealth and their persons, over those who remain behind, by one degree; and to each, Allah promised the best reward; and Allah preferred the fighters over those who remain behind, by an immense reward, by degrees from Himself."
An-Nisa, 95
Ibn 'Abbas and others say, those remaining behind over whom preference is given by one degree are those remaining behind among the people of excuse; and those remaining behind over whom preference is given by degrees are those remaining behind among those who have no excuse.
The fourth type: the intention of evil deeds without performing them. In the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, a complete good deed is written; likewise in the hadith of Abu Hourayra, of Anas and others, a good deed is written. And in the hadith of Abu Hourayra he says, "He abandoned it only out of regard for Me." That indicates intended is whoever had power over the willed disobedience and left it for Allah the Most High; without doubt a good deed is written him for that, for leaving disobedience with that intention is a righteous deed.
But if he intended a disobedience then left committing it for fear of creatures or out of regard for them, it has been said he is punished for leaving it with that intention, for preferring the fear of creatures to the fear of Allah is illicit; likewise aiming at display for creatures is illicit: when the abandoning of disobedience joins that intention, he is punished for that abandonment. Abou Nou'aym reports, by a weak chain, from Ibn 'Abbas, "O companion of sin! Count not yourself safe from its evil end, nor that a sin greater than it follow you if you commit it." Then he mentions sayings and says, "and your fear of the wind when it stirs the curtain of your door, you who are in sin, and your heart not being troubled by the gaze of Allah upon you, is greater than the sin itself were you to commit it." And al-Foudayl ibn Iyad said, they used to say, "Leaving the deed for the people is display, and doing it for them is association."
As for whoever strove to obtain it with all he could, then destiny interposed between him and it, a group mentioned he is then punished for it, in virtue of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Allah passed over my community what their souls whisper, so long as they speak it not or do it not." And whoever strove with all his effort to disobedience then proved incapable, he acted. Like the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "When two Muslims meet, each with his sword, the killer and the slain are in the Fire." They said, Messenger of Allah! That is the killer; what of the slain? He said, "He was eager to kill his companion."
His words, "so long as they speak it not or do it not," indicate whoever intends a disobedience and speaks it with his tongue is punished for the intention at that moment, for he made of his limbs a disobedience, which is the word of the tongue. It is indicated by the hadith of whoever says, "Were I to have wealth, I would do therein what such a one does," meaning whoever disobeys Allah in his wealth, "their burdens are equal." And among the later ones, certain said, one is not punished for the speech of intention, unless the intended disobedience be an illicit word, like slander, backbiting and lying; as for what belongs to action by the limbs, one sins not by the mere fact of having spoken of his intention. It may be argued by the hadith of Abu Hourayra already cited, "And when he speaks of committing an evil deed, I pardon it him so long as he commits it not."
But the sense of the hadith here is the speech of the soul, joining it to his words, "so long as they speak it not or do it not." And the hadith of Abu Kabcha indicates it clearly: the word of whoever says, "Were I to have wealth, I would spend therein upon disobediences as such a one does," is not the performance of the intended disobedience; he only informs of what he intends to do, its object being the spending of wealth upon disobediences, while he has no wealth at all. Moreover, speaking thus is illicit: how should he be excused, without punishment?
As for whoever's intention dissolved and resolution weakened without cause coming from him, is he punished for the envisaged disobedience or not? The answer is of two categories.
The first: the intention of disobedience is a passing thought, whose holder does not settle in it, whose heart attaches not to it, but detests it and feels disgust of it: such a one is excused, and it is like the evil obsessions about which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked, and he said, "That is the pure brilliance of faith." And when the words of the Most High were sent down,
"Whether you expose what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it; then He pardons whom He wills, and punishes whom He wills."
Al-Baqara, 284
it was hard for the Muslims, who thought those thoughts were comprised in it; then the following verse descended, containing,
"Lord! Burden us not with what we cannot bear."
Al-Baqara, 286
It was shown that what they cannot bear is not held against them, nor at their charge. Ibn 'Abbas and others called that abrogation, and their saying is that this verse lifted the ambiguity fallen into the souls from the first verse, and showed the first verse concerns decided resolutions. That is what the righteous Ancients called abrogation.
The second category: the decided resolutions occurring in the souls, lasting, whose holder settles in them. They are of two types.
This too is of two kinds. The first: what is a deed independent in itself, of the deeds of hearts, such as doubting the divine oneness, prophethood, resurrection, or another foundation of disbelief and hypocrisy, or the conviction that it is falsehood: all of that is held against the servant, and he becomes thereby disbeliever or hypocrite. It is reported from Ibn 'Abbas that he carried the words of the Most High,
"Whether you expose what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it."
Al-Baqara, 284
upon this kind. It is reported also from him that he carried it upon the concealment of testimony, as it is said, "Whoever hides it has a sinful heart." To this category attach all the disobediences relating to hearts: loving what Allah detests, detesting what Allah loves, pride, self-sufficiency, envy, evil suspicion of a Muslim without cause; though it is reported from Soufyan, concerning evil suspicion, "when it results in neither word nor deed, it is excused." And likewise reported from al-Hasan concerning envy. That may be carried, of their saying, upon what the man feels and cannot repel: he detests it, repels it from himself, and it repels not; otherwise for what he welcomes and finds rest in, repeating with it the speech of his soul and exposing it.
The second type: what is not of the deeds of hearts, but of the deeds of limbs, such as fornication, theft, wine, murder, slander and the like, when the servant persists in the will of that, resolves upon it, without any trace appearing outwardly. Concerning it, two famous views among the scholars.
The first: account is held of it. Ibn al-Moubarak said, I asked Soufyan ath-Thawri, "Is the servant held to account for intention?" He said, "When it be a resolution, he is seized for it." Many jurists, traditionists and theologians, among our companions and others, preferred this view, arguing by the words of the Most High,
"And know that Allah knows what is in your souls; so beware of Him."
Al-Baqara, 235
and His words,
"But He will call you to account for what your hearts earned."
Al-Baqara, 225
and by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Sin is what scratches in your breast and which you dislike that people know." They carried his words (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Allah passed over my community what their souls whisper, so long as they speak it not or do it not," upon the fleeting thoughts, not upon what the servant settles in and his heart attaches to: that is of his earning and his deed, and he is not excused of it. Among them is whoever said, he is punished in this low world by worries and sorrows; it is reported from 'Aicha in a stopped version and a raised version, and its authenticity is disputed. And it has been said, rather Allah will call the servant to account for it on the day of Resurrection, reprehend him, then pardon him without punishing him, his punishment being the interrogation. It is reported from Ibn 'Abbas and ar-Rabi' ibn Anas, and it is the choice of Ibn Jarir. It was argued by the hadith of Ibn 'Omar in the secret, "and that," without generality; and moreover it concerns sins hidden in this low world, not the obsessions of breasts.
The second view: no account is held for mere intention, in any way. It is ascribed to the explicit text of ach-Chafi'i, and it is the view of Ibn Hamid, of our companions acting by the general rules. And al-'Awfi reports from Ibn 'Abbas what supports such a view.
And there is a third view: no account is held for the intention of disobedience, save were he to intend to commit it in the Sanctuary, as as-Soudi reports, from Mourra, from 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'oud, "No servant intending a sin without committing it but that it is written against him: were he to intend to kill a man beside the House, while he is at Aden 'Abyan, Allah will make him taste a painful punishment." And 'Abd Allah recited, "And whoever intends therein a deviation by injustice, We shall make him taste a painful punishment." Imam Ahmad and others report it. And Chou'ba and Soufyan report it from as-Soudi: Chou'ba raises it, and Soufyan stops it at the Companion; the view is that of Soufyan in his stopping. Ad-Dahhak said, "A man may intend a sin at Mecca while he is upon another land, and it is written against him without his committing it."
What supports such a view already preceded of Ahmad and Ishaq. The qadi Abu Ya'la reports it likewise from Ahmad. Ahmad reported this hadith of Ibn Mas'oud in the narration of Marwazi, then said, "Whoever wants to introduce therein a deviation." Ahmad said, "If a man, at Aden 'Abyan, intended to kill a man in the Sanctuary: there is the word of Allah the Most High, We shall make him taste a painful punishment. Thus said Ibn Mas'oud, may Allah have mercy on him."
Certain reduced that to what preceded of disobediences relating to hearts, and said, the Sanctuary must be respected, sanctified and magnified by hearts: the punishment bears upon the abandoning of that obligation. That is not correct, for the sacredness of the Sanctuary is not greater than the sacredness of Him who sanctified it, the Most High; and resolving to disobey Allah is resolving to violate His prohibitions. But had he resolved upon it aiming to violate the sacredness of the Sanctuary and despise it, that would be as though he resolved to commit a disobedience aiming to despise the sacredness of the Creator, the Most High: he would become disbeliever by that. And disbelief is excluded from him only were his intention in the disobedience the mere attainment of his desire and the aim of his soul, in straying as to the design of contradicting Allah, despising His majesty and His gaze.
And when the deed joins the intention, he is punished for it, whether the deed be posterior or anterior. Whoever commits a prohibition once then resolves to repeat it as soon as he has power is obstinate in disobedience, punished for that intention, even were he not to return to the deed till after long years. Ibn al-Moubarak and others explained obstinacy in disobedience thus.
In every state, disobedience is written only at its equivalent, without multiplication: punishment bears upon disobedience, and intention is not added to it; for were intention added to disobedience, one would be punished for the deed of disobedience with two punishments. And it will not be said, that imposes its equivalent in the good deed, for whoever performs it after intending it is rewarded for the good deed, without the intention. We say, that is excluded, for whoever performs a good deed, ten equivalents are written him: it may be that part of those equivalents is the reward of the intention of the good deed. And Allah knows best.
His words in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, in the narration of Mouslim, "or Allah effaces it," mean that the performance of the evil deed is written its doer a single evil deed, or Allah effaces it by what He wills of causes, repentance, seeking forgiveness, the performance of good deeds. The discussion of what effaces evil deeds preceded in the commentary of the hadith of Abu Dhar, "Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow an evil deed with a good deed that effaces it."
His words then, "and none is lost with Allah save he who is lost," mean that after this immense grace of Allah and His vast mercy, in the multiplication of good deeds and the pardoning of evil ones, none is lost with Allah save he who is lost, casting his hands into perdition, daring upon evil deeds, turning from good deeds and estranging himself from them. That is why Ibn Mas'oud said, "Woe to him whose unities are outweighed by his tens." And al-Kalbi reports, from Abu Salih, from Ibn 'Abbas, in raised form, "Lost is he whose unity is outweighed by his ten."
And Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawoud, an-Nasa'i and at-Tirmidhi report from the hadith of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Two easy habits no Muslim neglects but that he enters Paradise, and they are easy, and few are those who do them: glorifying Allah ten times after every prayer, praising Him ten times and magnifying Him ten times: that makes a hundred and fifty by the tongue, and a thousand five hundred in the balance. And when you take your bed, glorify Him, magnify Him and praise Him a hundred times: that makes a hundred by the tongue, and a thousand in the balance. Which of you performs two thousand five hundred evil deeds in a day and a night?"
And in the Mousnad, from Abu ad-Darda, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Let none of you abandon performing for Allah a thousand good deeds every morning, saying a hundred times, Glory to Allah and His praise: that is worth a thousand good deeds; he shall not do, if Allah wills, the equivalent of that in sins in his day, and what he does of other good, outside of that, shall be abundant."