Tirmidhi

Explanation:
1:
That is: If a believing servant holds a good opinion (husn al-zann) of Allah, believing that Allah Ta'ala will forgive him, will have mercy upon him, and will grant him goodness in this world and the Hereafter, then Allah Ta'ala deals with him according to this good opinion. Some commentators say: Here, "zann" (opinion) does not mean mere conjecture, but rather it is in the sense of certainty (yaqin), meaning: however much certainty the servant has in Allah, Allah deals with him accordingly.

Hadith Commentary:
This Divine statement is also worthy that every believing servant should always keep it in mind while living their life, and should always maintain a good opinion of Allah.
One should never harbor any bad thoughts about Him.
One should have complete certainty about attaining Paradise.
Allah, out of His mercy, will deal with the servant according to the servant’s own expectation of Him.
The hadith is also the speech of Allah; this is a clear proof of this reality.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
The complete hadith is as follows: When a servant remembers Me within himself, I also remember him within Myself. If he remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than it.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tawhid, Hadith: 7405)
The meaning of the hadith is that if a servant holds the belief regarding Me that I will forgive his sins and deal with him with My grace and bounty, then I forgive his sins and bestow upon him My grace and bounty, granting him mercy and blessings. Conversely, if he holds the belief regarding Me that I will punish him, then I subject him to punishment.
➋
Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullah has established from this hadith that the speech of Allah, the Exalted, is not limited to the Noble Qur’an; rather, all the sacred (qudsi) ahadith are also the speech of Allah, because in them the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has attributed the statement to Allah, the Exalted. And the speech of Allah is uncreated and is His attribute, which is connected to His will.
And Allah knows best.

Hadith Commentary:
That is, I will treat My servant according to the assumption he holds about Me.
If he assumes that I will forgive his faults, then so it shall be.
If he assumes that I will punish him, then so it shall be.
From this hadith, it is derived that hope (raja) should predominate in the servant, and one should maintain a good opinion of the Lord.
Even if the sins are many, one should still keep in mind that He is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful (Al-Ghafur, Al-Rahim).
One should not despair of His mercy.
(Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful) (: Al-Zumar: 53)

Hadith Commentary:
➊
The meaning of this hadith is that if My servant holds the assumption about Me that I will forgive his sins, then I forgive all his sins according to his assumption. And if, on the contrary, he assumes about Me that I will punish him, then I punish him.
This indicates that the aspect of hope should prevail over fear.
(Fath al-Bari: 13/472)

➋
In this hadith as well, the word "nafs" (self) is affirmed for the Essence of Allah, the Exalted.
According to this hadith, if a servant remembers his Lord secretly in his heart, then Allah, the Exalted, also mentions him in a gathering that is higher and more virtuous, because with Allah, the Exalted, there are noble angels who do not disobey Allah even for a moment; rather, they do only what they are commanded.
A great sin on the part of the servant is that he considers himself exalted on the earth of Allah, the Exalted, and forgets his Lord. On the contrary, when the servant prostrates himself before Allah, the Exalted, and humbles himself, then in this state of prostration he becomes very close to Allah, the Exalted, as is explicitly stated in the hadith. The more the servant turns towards his Lord, the closer he becomes to Allah, the Exalted.
Even though his body is on the earth, his heart reaches the nearness and proximity of Allah, the Exalted.
The nearness of one to another does not necessarily mean that both move with their bodies; rather, the nearness of one to another necessitates that the other is also near to him. For example, when a person approaches Makkah, it is said that Makkah has come very close to him.
In any case, for this type of nearness, movement from both sides is not necessary.
(Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid by al-Ghunayman: 1/269)

➌
In view of various ahadith, there are two types of nearness between the servant and Allah, the Exalted:
©.
Allah, the Exalted, being near to the hearts of the believers, and the hearts of the believers being near to Allah, the Exalted.
This is a reality that cannot be denied.
The more faith, divine knowledge, and fear of Allah there is in the hearts, the more they will traverse the stages of nearness to Allah, the Exalted.
©.
From this hadith, a special nearness of Allah, the Exalted, is understood, just as on the Day of Arafah and in the last part of every night, Allah, the Exalted, becomes near to His servants.
This is such a nearness that Allah, the Exalted, while being established over His Throne, becomes near to His servants. The Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, and Ash'ariyyah deny this special nearness, and there is no scholarly basis for their denial.
(Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid by al-Ghunayman: 1/270)

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
"ana ‘inda zanni ‘abdi bi":
I am with My servant
according to the assumption he has about Me.
If, at the time of supplication, he expects acceptance,
at the time of repentance he expects its acceptance, and at the time of seeking forgiveness he hopes for pardon,
if he hopes for reward upon worship, then I treat him according to these expectations. And it is evident
that good expectation is truthful and correct as a result of good deeds;
true good expectation cannot arise from bad deeds.
A farmer, after enduring toil and hardship, can hope for a good harvest;
he cannot hope for a harvest while sitting at home without sowing.
A student,
after working hard, can hope to achieve good marks;
he cannot hope for good marks while being lazy and neglectful.

"wa ana ma‘ahu hina yadhkuruni":
When he remembers Me with his tongue,
with his heart,
or through action in any way, then My mercy, enabling grace, guidance, and protection are granted to him, and whatever purpose for which he remembers Me,
I fulfill it for him and I am behind him.
For, in His knowledge and encompassing, every human
is always present,
whether he is a disbeliever or a Muslim,
whether he remembers Him or forgets Him.
Upon remembering,
mercy,
enabling grace,
guidance, and protection are obtained.

"in dhakarani fi nafsihi,
dhakartuhu fi nafsi":
If he remembers Me within himself,
that is, remembers Me in seclusion, then I too remember him in My own way,
I protect and guard him,
I grant him reward.
Allah’s "nafs" (self)
is according to the majesty of the Creator, and the human "nafs" is according to his being a created being,
but knowing its modality and reality is not possible for us,
nor is there any need for interpretation.

"in dhakarani fi mala’":
If he mentions Me in the presence of others,
does not forget Me while sitting among others,
or remembers Me in his business and dealings, then I mention him with praise and commendation among the angels.

"in taqarraba minni shibran":
If he seeks nearness to Me through obedience and submission, then I draw nearer to him more than his action, and grant him even more of My mercy,
enabling grace, assistance, and protection, and grant him further ability to do good deeds and acts of obedience.
"Shibr" (span),
"dhira‘" (cubit),
"yad" (hand),
"ba‘" (the span of both arms),
that is, the extent of both hands’ spread—
for him, the words shibr,
dhira‘,
ba‘,
mashi (walking),
harwala (running)
are used according to human idiom;
the human quality and form are not intended.
The intent is to express the vastness of His mercy.

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: In this hadith, "If he comes to Me, I come to him with greater speed":
I come to him faster than he comes to Me—
from this, the explanation of the aforementioned hadith becomes clear, that the real objective is
the acceptance of his deeds and granting him closeness to Me; that I shower him with My mercy even more than his own righteousness and worship, and I honor him with My divine enablement (tawfiq) and assistance,
because My general companionship (ma‘iyyah) is available to every human at all times, whereas in this hadith, special companionship is intended,
the basis of which is a person's righteousness,
obedience, and submission.

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: The meaning of tawbah is to return, to come back, and in the terminology of the Shari‘ah, it refers to the servant’s return from disobedience and sin against Allah Ta‘ala to His obedience and compliance. For this tawbah, it is necessary that a person refrains from the sin, feels remorse for having committed it, resolves and pledges not to do it again, and if someone’s right has been usurped, then it should be returned and any injustice or excess should be forgiven. And according to Imam Ibn al-Mubarak, if a body has been nourished with unlawful (haram) wealth, then it should be lightened from grief, worry, and distress, so that pure flesh may grow. And Allah’s joy and happiness are befitting to Him; there is no need for interpretation (ta’wil) or negation (ta‘til) of it. Here, the virtue of tawbah has been explained through an example. We seek refuge with Allah; it is not intended to liken Allah’s joy to human joy and happiness. The rest of the explanation of the hadith has already passed at the beginning of the previous book.

Explanation:
1:
This hadith encourages having good expectations of Allah,
but hope for anything cannot be entertained without action.
It is as if Allah’s dealing with His servants will be according to their deeds:
if the servant’s deed is good, then he will be dealt with well, and in the case of bad deeds, he will be dealt with badly.

Benefits and Issues:

➊
One should have good expectations (husn al-zann) from Allah, the Exalted.
The correct way of having good expectations is to perform righteous deeds and hope for their acceptance.
One should repent from sins and hope for forgiveness.
To keep running on the path of sins while hoping for Allah’s mercy is foolishness.

➌
This contains an indirect encouragement towards action, because hope cannot be maintained without action; therefore, only the one who performs good deeds can have good hope from Allah.
The one who performs evil deeds can only have bad hope.

➍
Mentioning (dhikr) in a gathering does not refer to self-invented collective dhikr, but rather it means either that, as after prayer, everyone recites the prescribed supplications and remembrances individually, or it refers to mentioning Allah’s mercies, blessings, and His commands, etc.—that is, one person speaks and others listen.