The metric we fear is not the metric that matters.
Narrated by Abū Hurayrah (أبو هريرة)
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَىٰ صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَمْوَالِكُمْ، وَلَٰكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَىٰ قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ
"Allah does not look at your forms or your wealth — but He looks at your hearts and your deeds."
The hadith is quoted in almost every book of the spiritual sciences in Islam. The Prophet ﷺ is saying, plainly: the stage we perform on is not the stage that is being judged. There is a different, quieter stage — the heart and the deed — and that is where the weight of a life is measured.
Passages that draw on this hadith
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"hearts a pathway to gaze upon me. I hold their hearts in my hand and I place them in my sky. I then call the chosen ones of my angels, and when they assemble they prostrate to me. I say, I did not call you to prostrate to me but to show you the hearts of those who"
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"within us, we would know nothing beyond ourselves. Glory be to Him who orchestrates these wonders in hearts and visions, yet blinds many hearts and visions from perceiving them, leading most hearts to become ignorant of themselves and their wonders."
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"completely obscured from Allah. This results in the heart being sealed or rusted, as described in the Quran. No, rather, what they earn has covered their hearts. In another verse, Allah says, If we willed, we would afflict them for their sins and seal their hearts so they will not hear."
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"it. He said, with earthly hearts or heavenly hearts? I replied, with heavenly hearts. He said, far be it, O Adda, tell the pretenders not to pretend, for the discerning critic sees clearly. Then he looked up to the sky and said, my God, my"
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"speak complaints to God Almighty, questioning His dominance over hearts and the varying distribution of noble states. For He purifies the hearts of the truthful and distances the hearts of the deniers and"
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"the manner they died, and they die in the manner they lived, with consideration given to the state of their hearts, not their physical state. For it is from the state of hearts that forms will be shaped in the hereafter. None will be saved except those who come to Allah with a sound heart."
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"was ours. God help us. Observe how pure their hearts and intentions were, acting sincerely for God. They could understand each other's hearts without words, through a deep spiritual connection. This purity comes from consuming what is lawful, having a heart free from worldly love, and"
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"Allah also says, I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right. In Tafsir, it is explained that this means, I will lift the understanding of the Qur'an from their hearts, and in some interpretations, I will shield their hearts from the kingdom."