The Lament of the People of Paradise and the Hadith: “O My Servants, You Will Not Attain My Harm”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He asks: What is the authenticity of the virtue attributed to the one who says, “The people of Paradise do not lament over anything except for the moments of worship they neglected in other than the cause of Allah”? It is known that lamentation is a characteristic of deficiency, and there is no deficiency in Paradise.
The Shaykh:
It is known that they wish they had increased in what they are lamenting over. They wish they had increased in deeds when they saw the reward and saw Paradise; they wish they had provisioned themselves with more good.
The questioner:
And he asks the one who made the statement to clarify this Qudsi hadith narrated by Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), in which Allah the Exalted says: My vow, so benefit me.
The Shaykh:
Yes, it is clear, the statement is clear: that they did not harm Allah the Exalted and did not benefit Him, because Allah is rich in Himself regarding them. Rather, it is they who harm themselves or benefit themselves. So their deeds return to them; if they are righteous, their benefit is for them, and if they are evil, their harm is upon them.[Fussilat 41:46] Allah the Majestic and Exalted: “Indeed, the disobedience of the disobedient does not harm Him, nor does the obedience of the obedient benefit Him, nor does it increase in His dominion, nor does it decrease from His dominion, Exalted is He.” [Az-Zumar 39:7], [Az-Zumar 39:7]. Yes.
He asks: What is the authenticity of the virtue attributed to the one who says, “The people of Paradise do not lament over anything except for the moments of worship they neglected in other than the cause of Allah”? It is known that lamentation is a characteristic of deficiency, and there is no deficiency in Paradise.
The Shaykh:
It is known that they wish they had increased in what they are lamenting over. They wish they had increased in deeds when they saw the reward and saw Paradise; they wish they had provisioned themselves with more good.
The questioner:
And he asks the one who made the statement to clarify this Qudsi hadith narrated by Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), in which Allah the Exalted says:
O My servants, you will not attain My harm, so envy Me, and you will not attain
يا عبادي إنكم لن تبلغوا غبري فاغبطوني ولن تبلغواThe Shaykh:
Yes, it is clear, the statement is clear: that they did not harm Allah the Exalted and did not benefit Him, because Allah is rich in Himself regarding them. Rather, it is they who harm themselves or benefit themselves. So their deeds return to them; if they are righteous, their benefit is for them, and if they are evil, their harm is upon them.
Whoever does righteousness - it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And
مَّنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَسَاءَ فَعَلَيْهَا وَمَاIf you disbelieve - indeed, Allah is Free from need of you
إِن تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنكُمْAnd He does not approve for His servants disbelief. And if you are grateful, He approves it for you
وَلَا يَرْضَىٰ لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ وَإِن تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ
Source
شرح نونية ابن القيم [57] — alfawzan.live (1:12:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.