Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who is truthful and trusted, told us and said: “Indeed, your creation is such that you are kept as a drop of fluid in your mother’s womb for forty days, then as a clot of blood for forty days, then as a lump of flesh for forty days, then an angel is sent to it and he breathes the soul into it and is commanded with four words: its provision, its death, its deeds, and whether it will be wretched or blessed. So, by the One besides whom there is no deity! Indeed, one of you performs the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is only a hand’s span between him and Paradise, but the decree overtakes him and he ends his life with the deeds of the people of Hell, so he enters Hell. Likewise, a man performs the deeds of the people of Hell until there is only a hand’s span between him and Hell, but the decree overtakes him and he ends his life with the deeds of the people of Paradise, so he enters Paradise.”