What is the meaning of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, “So the record overtakes him”?

Question:
What is the meaning of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, “So the record overtakes him”?

Answer:
Divine decree means that the record overtakes him; that is, the decree that was decreed for him in the Preserved Tablet, that he is among the people of the Fire, catches up with him. What was written for him catches up with him, or the record overtakes him that he was written as being among the people of Paradise, and what was written for him catches up with him before he dies. This is because Allah’s decree is effective and inevitable. One does not become among the people of Paradise except by speaking words of disbelief or apostasy and dying in that state, may Allah protect us from that, or by testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, believing in it and being certain of it, and dying in that state, in which case he becomes among the people of Paradise. Yes, Allah prepares a cause for him, either one that puts him in the Fire or one that puts him in Paradise. Yes.