Hadith Text
وَعَنْ أَنَسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ:
«إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِعَبْدِهِ خَيْراً عَجَّلَ لَهُ الْعُقُوبَةَ فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِعَبْدِهِ الشَّرَّ أَمْسَكَ عَنْهُ بِذَنْبِهِ حَتَّى يُوَافِيَ بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ».
وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ:
«إِنَّ عِظَمَ الْجَزَاءِ مَعَ عِظَمِ الْبَلَاءِ، وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَىٰ إِذَا أَحَبَّ قَوْماً ابْتَلاهُمْ، فَمَنْ رَضِيَ فَلَهُ الرِّضى، وَمَنْ سَخِطَ فَلَهُ السُّخْطُ».
رَوَاهُ التَّرْمِذِيُّ، وَقَالَ: حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“When Allah intends good for a servant, He hastens his punishment for him in this world. And when Allah intends evil for a servant, He holds back from him because of his sin until he comes with it on the Day of Resurrection.”
And the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Indeed the greatness of the reward is with the greatness of the trial, and when Allah loves a people He tests them. So whoever is content will have contentment, and whoever is displeased will have displeasure.”
Meanings of Key Words
- Idhā arāda Allāhu bi‑‘abdihi khayran ʿajjala lahu al‑‘uqūbah fī al‑dunyā —
“When Allah intends good for a servant, He hastens his punishment for him in this world.”
The word ‘uqūbah does not mean “evil” or “random suffering.” It means the consequence of a wrong — brought forward in this life so that it does not accumulate until the Hereafter. - Amṣaka ‘anhu bidhanbihi —
“He holds him back because of his sin.”
This is one of the most sober phrases in the hadith: the sin remains, the account is not cleaned, and the person is left to carry it. - Yuwāfī bihi yawm al‑qiyāmah —
“He will meet with it on the Day of Resurrection.”
Meeting it means arriving with it fully: the same sins, but now in the place where the scales are heavy and the judgment final. - ‘Iẓamu al‑jazā’ ma‘a ‘iẓami al‑balā’ —
“The greatness of the reward is with the greatness of the trial.”
The two rise together. The trial is not removed from the believer’s life, but the reward is raised in proportion. - Idhā aḥabba quwwama abtalāhum —
“When Allah loves a people, He tests them.”
Love is not absence of heat. It is love that is expressed through investment, responsibility, and refinement. The loved ones are tested, not spared. - Man raḍiya fa lahu al‑riḍā, wa man sakhiṭa fa lahu al‑sakhaṭ —
“Whoever is content will have contentment, and whoever is displeased will have displeasure.”
Contentment is not the absence of pain. It is the presence of trust. Displeasure is not the awareness of pain. It is the refusal to accept the Giver of the pain.
Hadith Lessons
This hadith is not a general theory of life. It is a precise teaching about how Allah deals with a servant’s sins when He intends good or evil for that servant. The believer is not told that every hardship is a “punishment.” They are told that when Allah intends good, He may bring the consequences of certain sins forward in this life so they do not have to be weighed again in the Hereafter.
The scholars explain that this is a mercy and a relief in disguise. The pain of loss or accountability in this world is finite: it passes, ends, is forgotten. The pain of reckoning in the Hereafter, by comparison, is infinite. When Allah takes the bill in this life, He is sparing the believer from a heavier bill later. The hadith does not say this is the only treatment of sin — forgiveness is the best of all — but it says that if there must be punishment, bringing it forward is better than delaying it.
The opposite is even more severe: when Allah intends evil for a servant, He holds back the reckoning. The person continues sinning, and nothing seems to stop them. The world appears to smile on them, no door closes, no harm overtakes them — and yet the sins are not cleansed. The hadith does not say this is “good” for the person. It calls it shar — evil. The evil is that the bill is being carried forward, until the person stands before Allah on the Day of Resurrection burdened with what was never dealt with. The hadith implies that the one who is left in ease while continuing in wrong is not the one being loved — he is the one being prepared for a heavier account.
The second part of the hadith completes the picture: the greatness of the reward is with the greatness of the trial. Not every trial is punishment; many trials are pure refinement, not linked to a specific sin, and intended to raise the rank of the believer, not to cleanse a file. When Allah loves a people, He tests them — not because He enjoys their suffering, but because the only way to reach the highest stations is through the highest training. The test reveals the heart: the one who meets his trial with riḍā — contentment and trust — receives Allah’s pleasure. The one who meets it with sakhaṭ — complaint, resentment, and latent accusation of the Giver — brings displeasure upon himself, even if the outward complaint is only to people around him.
The hadith quietly reframes what most people consider “good news” and “bad news.” The one who is punished in this world may be the one Allah intends good for, because his reckoning is being brought forward. The one who appears to “get away with it” may be the one Allah intends evil for, because his sins are being stored until the Day of Judgment. The believer is asked to shift from looking at the surface — ease or hardship — to looking at the destination — is my account being lightened here, or is it being carried forward?
Three Questions to Close With
- When hardship comes that feels like a punishment — especially when it is tied to a specific wrong — do I see it as a bill being taken early, or merely as unfair suffering?
- This hadith says that when Allah intends evil for someone, He leaves their sins untouched. Am I more afraid of immediate difficulty, or of a life of sin that seems to pass without consequences?
- The hadith says: when Allah loves a people, He tests them — and the heart’s reaction is what matters. When something difficult happens, is my inner response closer to riḍā (contentment, trust) or sakhaṭ (displeasure, blame)?