Mukhtasar Muslim

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that` the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to us, and he (peace be upon him) is the truthful and the one who is made truthful, (he said that) indeed the sperm of each one of you remains in his mother's womb for forty days, then it remains as a clot of blood for forty days, then it becomes a lump of flesh in forty days. Then Allah Almighty sends an angel to it, who breathes the soul into it and is commanded regarding four things: to write down his provision (i.e., whether he will be needy or wealthy), to write down his lifespan (how long he will live), to write down his deeds (what he will do), and to write down whether he will be fortunate (of Paradise) or unfortunate (of Hell). So I swear by Him besides whom there is no deity, that indeed one of you performs the deeds of the people of Paradise until there remains between him and Paradise only a handspan, then what is written in destiny overtakes him, so he begins to do the deeds of the people of Hell and thus enters Hell. And a man performs the deeds of the people of Hell throughout his life, until there remains between him and Hell only a handspan, then what is written in destiny overtakes him, so he begins to do the deeds of the people of Paradise and thus enters Paradise.