Hadith Text
وَعَنْ أَبِي الْعَبَّاسِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فِيمَا يَرْوِي عَنْ رَبِّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى قَالَ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ، ثُمَّ بَيَّنَ ذَلِكَ: فَمَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً، وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عَشْرَ حَسَنَاتٍ إِلَى سَبْعِمِائَةِ ضِعْفٍ إِلَى أَضْعَافٍ كَثِيرَةٍ، وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِسَيِّئَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً، وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ سَيِّئَةً وَاحِدَةً». مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Abu al-Abbas Abdullah ibn Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with both of them), from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in what he narrates from his Lord — Blessed and Most High — who said:
“Indeed Allah has written down good deeds and bad deeds. Then He clarified that:
Whoever intended a good deed but did not do it — Allah records it with Him as one complete good deed.
And if he intended it and did it — Allah records it as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times, up to many times more.
And if he intended a bad deed but did not do it — Allah records it with Him as one complete good deed.
And if he intended it and did it — Allah records it as one single bad deed.”
Agreed upon.
Meanings of Key Words
- Hadith Qudsi (حديث قدسي) — words narrated from Allah directly through the Prophet ﷺ; not Quran, but divine speech — among the most elevated category of hadith
- Kataba (كَتَبَ) — He wrote, He recorded; Allah’s own decree — already set, already certain
- Bayyana (بَيَّنَ) — He clarified, He explained; after establishing the principle, Allah Himself breaks it down — this detail is a mercy
- Hamma (هَمَّ) — he intended, he resolved; the word describes a firm intention that has formed in the heart — not a passing thought, but a real decision
- Hasanah kamilah (حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً) — one complete good deed; not half a deed, not a partial credit — full, complete, recorded
- ‘Ashra hasanat (عَشْرَ حَسَنَاتٍ) — ten good deeds; the minimum multiplier when intention meets action
- Sab’umi’ati di’f (سَبْعِمِائَةِ ضِعْفٍ) — seven hundred times; the upper limit mentioned — but then the hadith says “many times more,” meaning the ceiling is with Allah’s generosity alone
- Ad’afan katheerah (أَضْعَافٍ كَثِيرَةٍ) — many times more; beyond calculation — Allah’s generosity has no fixed upper boundary
- Sayyi’atan wahidah (سَيِّئَةً وَاحِدَةً) — one single bad deed; after all the multiplication of good — evil stays at one, never multiplied
Hadith Lessons
This is a Hadith Qudsi — Allah speaking directly. And what He chooses to say, in His own words, is not a warning. It is not a list of punishments. It is the most extraordinarily generous accounting system ever described. Read it slowly and let the mathematics of divine mercy land fully.
The Four Scenarios — and What They Reveal About Allah
Allah lays out four possibilities covering every combination of intention and action for both good and evil. The result of placing them side by side is a portrait of who Allah is.
Scenario one: You intended good — but life intervened, or you were unable, or circumstances prevented you. You never did it. Allah records it as one complete good deed. The intention alone — without a single action — is rewarded as if the deed was done. This is Hadith 4 (the men left behind by illness) confirmed at the divine accounting level. A sincere intention that was blocked is not a zero. It is a full credit.
Scenario two: You intended good and you did it. Now the multiplier begins. Minimum: ten. And then the hadith opens a door that has no ceiling — seven hundred times, and beyond that “many times more.” Scholars note that this “many times more” is where Ramadan fasting lives, where sincerity multiplies, where need and circumstance and the state of the heart push the number beyond what can be named. Allah’s generosity in rewarding good has no upper limit that human language can contain.
Scenario three: You intended evil — but you stopped yourself. You pulled back. Maybe out of fear of Allah, maybe out of shame, maybe out of a last moment of conscience. You did not do it. Allah records it as one complete good deed. The restraint itself — the war you won inside yourself — is rewarded as if you did something actively good. This is perhaps the most astonishing line in the entire hadith. Leaving a sin for Allah’s sake is an act of worship.
Scenario four: You intended evil and you did it. Allah records it as one single bad deed. One. After all the multiplication of good — evil stays stubbornly, mercifully at one. It is never multiplied. It is never compounded automatically. One deed, one record.
The Asymmetry Is the Message
Place these four scenarios together and the asymmetry is unmistakable — and entirely deliberate.
Good intention alone: 1 reward.
Good intention + action: 10 to 700+ rewards.
Evil intention stopped: 1 reward.
Evil intention + action: 1 penalty.
This is not a balanced ledger. It is a ledger designed by a Lord who wants His servants to succeed. The system is tilted — overwhelmingly, structurally, intentionally — in the believer’s favour. As long as a person keeps trying, keeps intending good, keeps fighting their lower self even when they sometimes lose — they are mathematically, by Allah’s own design, accumulating far more than they are losing.
The person who wakes up every day intending to be better, who sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails, who restrains themselves from evil when they can and falls short when they cannot — that person’s account, under this system, is growing. Not because they are perfect. Because Allah designed the accounting this way.
The Passing Thought vs. The Firm Intention
One important clarification that protects the believer: the word “hamma (هَمَّ)” does not mean a passing thought. A fleeting thought of evil that crosses the mind uninvited — and is dismissed — is not recorded at all. The Prophet ﷺ said elsewhere that Allah has forgiven his Ummah for what the soul whispers to itself, as long as it is not acted upon or spoken.
The “hamma” that concerns Scenario four is the firm, settled intention — the decision that has formed in the heart and is moving toward action. This distinction is a mercy. You are not punished for the thoughts that visit you. You are only accountable for the intentions you cultivate and the actions you choose.
What This Means for the Person Who Feels Behind
There is a type of believer who carries a quiet despair — a sense that their sins are too many, their good deeds too few, their record too damaged to recover. This hadith is Allah’s direct answer to that despair, in His own words.
Under this accounting system, a person who has sinned a thousand times but genuinely repents and begins doing good — starts multiplying at 10x, at 700x, at “many times more.” A person who restrains themselves from ten sins they wanted to commit has ten complete good deeds recorded. A person who intended good but was repeatedly prevented has full credits for every prevented intention.
The mathematics of divine mercy are not fair in the human sense. They are far more generous than fair. And this generosity is not an accident — it is Allah describing His own system, in His own words, so that no sincere believer ever has a reason to give up.
Three Questions to Close With
- Is there a good I have been intending for a long time but have not yet done — knowing now that even the sincere intention is already recorded as a complete good deed with Allah?
- When I stop myself from a sin — do I recognise that moment of restraint as an act of worship that Allah is rewarding, or do I only notice my failures?
- Does knowing the asymmetry of this accounting system — good multiplied endlessly, evil kept at one — change how I feel about my standing with Allah right now?