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The Four Papers Together

Four examples, and one question repeated at the head of every paper. Two men were given, and they differed in the signature and not in the handwriting. One was given and then had it withheld, and in both cases he held to the same answer. And a group who had nothing in their hands to give gave the one thing nobody can give twice.

There is not one paper among these that is strange to you. Every day you sit in front of one of them: a new blessing in which you are tested by gratitude, or a hardship in which you are tested by endurance, and there is no third. And this is the description of the man who wins in both halls at once:

«عجبًا لأمرِ المؤمن! إنَّ أمرَه كلَّه خير، وليس ذاك لأحدٍ إلا للمؤمن: إن أصابتْه سرّاءُ شكَر فكان خيرًا له، وإن أصابتْه ضرّاءُ صبَر فكان خيرًا له»

How remarkable is the case of the believer! Every turn of his affair is good for him, and that belongs to no one but the believer: if ease comes to him he is grateful, and that is good for him; and if hardship comes to him he endures, and that is good for him.

Sahih Muslim · 2999 — narrated by Suhayb al-Rumi · graded sound (sahih) by MuslimThe Arabic above is the text; the English renders its meaning.

The marking will come, and everyone leaving the hall will be asked about certain things by name, among them the money Korah failed over, and the lifetime Pharaoh spent claiming what was not his:

«لا تزولُ قدما عبدٍ يومَ القيامةِ حتى يُسألَ عن عمرِه فيمَ أفناه، وعن عِلمِه فيمَ فعَل، وعن مالِه من أينَ اكتسبَه وفيمَ أنفقَه، وعن جسمِه فيمَ أبلاه»

On the Day of Rising no servant's feet will move from where they stand until he is asked about four things: about his lifetime and how he spent it; about his knowledge and what he did with it; about his wealth, where he earned it and where he spent it; and about his body and how he used it up.

Sunan al-Tirmidhi · 2417 — narrated by Abu Barza al-Aslami · graded good and sound (hasan sahih) by al-TirmidhiThe Arabic above is the text; the English renders its meaning.

And whoever wants to know his mark before it is announced has been shown a short road:

«حاسِبوا أنفسَكم قبلَ أن تُحاسَبوا، وتَزيَّنوا للعَرضِ الأكبر، وإنَّما يخِفُّ الحسابُ يومَ القيامةِ على مَن حاسبَ نفسَه في الدنيا»

Call yourselves to account before you are called to account; and make ready for the great presentation. The reckoning on the Day of Rising will be light only for the one who called himself to account in this world.

Sunan al-Tirmidhi — narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab · graded a report stopping at a Companion (mawquf) — not a saying of the Prophet by al-TirmidhiThe Arabic above is the text; the English renders its meaning.al-Tirmidhi relates it following hadith 2459. It stops at Umar ibn al-Khattab and is not raised to the Prophet ﷺ.

So whoever reads this part, then looks at his hand and finds a pen in it and a paper with blank space left in it, has had enough of the papers of those who went before.

Map of this part
The questionWhy did the man who was given everything pass while the man given the like of it failed, and why was the man who woke a few minutes before the bell accepted while the man who spoke after it was turned away?
The path1The paper of giving: Solomon credits the favour, and his kingdom does not distract him from an ant2the same paper: Korah changes the signature at the foot of the page3the paper of tyranny: Pharaoh writes the same answer in ease and in hardship, then loses the timing4the paper of waking up: the magicians correct their work where they went wrong and pay the highest price5the four together: gratitude or endurance, and there is no third
The two hallsA ring of keys given back exactly as it was taken, a shining bag over a blank paper, a voice saying the time is counted by his own watch, and slips torn up before the papers are taken inmoney, a post, a word people listen to and a body in health, with two questions about every key: did you open with it what you were given leave to open? and whose did you say it was? And treasure chests put in the pan that weigh nothing, and papers read out under a name other than the one their owner came in with
EvidenceSad 35 · An-Naml 19 · An-Naml 40 · Al-Qasas 76–78 · Al-Qasas 81–82 · Al-Araf 121–122 · Al-Araf 130 · Yunus 90–91 · Ta-Ha 72–73 · Ash-Shuara 50–51 · An-Naziat 23–24 · Sahih Muslim 2564 · Sahih Muslim 2759 · Sahih Muslim 2999 · Sahih al-Bukhari 6514 · Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2417 · a report from Umar ibn al-Khattab on calling oneself to account — a Companion's words, not the Prophet's
Where it landsA man is not asked how much he owned, nor how long a stretch he blackened, but whom he credited the favour to, and when he lifted his head from the paper.
What to do with it
  1. 1Name three blessings every morning, each one by its own name, and credit them aloud to the One who gave them before you say a single letter about your own effort in them.
  2. 2When your share is increased, stop before you rejoice and ask: what question has this increase added to my paper? Then write its answer that same day.
  3. 3Leave one drawer among your keys locked while you are quite able to open it, as practice in knowing that what is in your hand is not yours.
  4. 4When you are at your most comfortable, meet the need of a man nobody sees, and mention it to nobody afterwards.
  5. 5When a hardship closes in on you, begin with the question: what in me is being corrected? Before you ask: who brought this on me?
  6. 6Stop at the second warning and do not wait for the third, and put your public mistake right in the place where it happened and in front of the people who saw it.
In short

Four papers were put up before you, and at the head of every one of them a single question: whose is the favour? Solomon was given a kingship with no like, and he credited the favour to his Lord and named the blessing a test, and his power never distracted him from an ant on the road. Korah was given something of the same kind and credited the giving to knowledge he had; he was warned and did not lift his head, and the earth swallowed him. Pharaoh failed in ease by claiming what was not his, and in hardship by reading omens into it, then spoke when the hand had already closed on his paper, so what was turned back on him was his timing and not his words. And his magicians came in haggling over pay, and when they saw the clear proof they declared it where they had gone wrong, and paid their bodies as the price of erasing the first line. So the judgement is not on how much you owned, nor on how long a stretch you blackened, but on whom you credited the favour to and where your turning back stands in relation to the bell. And as long as there is a pen in your hand and blank space left, the time is yours.