[His saying, the Exalted: "Whoever brings a good deed"]

[The first interpretation]

17188 - ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Awdi narrated to us, Waki‘ narrated to us, Sufyan narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Shimr ibn ‘Atiyyah, from a man from Taym, from Abu Dharr, he said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, is "La ilaha illa Allah" [there is no god but Allah] among the good deeds? He said: It is among the best of good deeds.

17189 - Abu Sa‘id al-Ashajj narrated to us, Ibn al-Aglah and Ibn Fudayl narrated to us, from al-Hasan ibn ‘Ubayd Allah, from Jami‘ ibn Shaddad, from al-Aswad ibn Hilal, from ‘Abd Allah regarding His saying: "Whoever brings a good deed," he said: It is "La ilaha illa Allah." — And it was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Hurayrah, ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, al-Hasan, ‘Ata’, Mujahid, Abu Salih Dhakwan, ‘Ikrimah, Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi, al-Nakha‘i, al-Dahhak, al-Zuhri, Qatadah, and Zayd ibn Aslam the like of that.

The second interpretation:

17190 - It was mentioned from Muhammad ibn ‘Utaybah al-Kindi, Isma‘il ibn Aban narrated to us, Fudayl ibn al-Zubayr narrated to us, from Abu Dawud, from Ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Jadali, he said: I entered upon ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and he said: O Abu ‘Abd Allah, shall I not tell you about the good deed that whoever brings it, Allah will cause him to enter Paradise and will do such and such with him? I said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. He said: The good deed is our love.

His saying, the Exalted: "Then he shall have better than it"

[The first interpretation]

17191 - Abu Zur‘ah narrated to us, Minjab narrated to us, Bishr informed us, from Abu Rawq, from al-Dahhak, from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding His saying, the Exalted: "Then he shall have better than it," he said: A better reward.

17192 - ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn narrated to us, Sa‘id ibn Yahya, meaning: al-Umawi, narrated to us, my father narrated to me, Ibn Jurayj narrated to us, from ‘Ata’ al-Khurasani, from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding "Then he shall have better than it," [meaning:] he shall have from it something better. — And it was narrated from al-Hasan, Mujahid, and Qatadah the like of that.

17193 - Abu Zur‘ah narrated to us, Yahya ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Bukayr narrated to us, Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated to me, ‘Ata’ narrated to me, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, regarding His saying: "Then he shall have better than it," he says: His reward is from that good deed.

17194 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih narrated to us, Mu‘awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding His saying: "And whoever brings an evil deed," he said: It is Shirk [polytheism]. — And it was narrated from Ibn Mas‘ud, Abu Hurayrah, Anas ibn Malik, Abu Wa’il, ‘Ata’, al-Hasan, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, and ‘Ikrimah.