885 - 'Ismah ibn 'Asim informed me, saying: Hanbal narrated to me, saying: I asked Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal], saying: Are the deeds of the servants created? He said: "Yes, ordained for them regarding wretchedness and felicity." I said to him: Are wretchedness and felicity written upon the servant? He said: "Yes, they are preceded in the knowledge of Allah, and they are in the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) before He created him; and wretchedness and felicity are from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic." 'Abd Allah [ibn Ahmad] said: "The wretched one is he who was wretched in his mother's womb." He also said in another place: "The wretched one is he who was wretched in his mother's womb, and the fortunate one is he who attained felicity through others." He said: "Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, decreed upon Adam that he would commit the error before He created him." I said: Did Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, command the servants to obey? He said: "Yes, and He decreed disobedience upon them to establish the proof against them, and Allah punishes the servants while He is not unjust to them." He also said: "There is nothing more severe upon the Qadariyyah than the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: {And We do not send it down except according to a known measure} [Al-Hijr: 21], and His saying: {Indeed, all things We created with predestination} [Al-Qamar: 49]. There are many places in the Qur'an that affirm predestination for those who understand and contemplate it."