سورة الأعراف

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed when Allah wills good for His servant and that servant has committed a sin, He afflicts him afterwards with a hardship and reminds him of istighfar (seeking forgiveness); and when He wills evil for a servant and that servant has committed a sin, He provides a blessing for him so that he forgets istighfar and seeking forgiveness and persists in sin. And this is the very saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: gradually, from where they do not know, We will seize them for punishment by means of blessings at the times of disobedience.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Samaʿa ibn Mihran said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about this saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَیْثُ لاَ یَعْلَمُونَ [We shall draw them on by degrees from where they do not know]. He said: "Istidraj (drawing on by degrees) means that the servant commits a sin and along with it a blessing is also given to him, and this blessing prevents him from seeking forgiveness for that sin."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Ri'ab has narrated from one of the Shia: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about istidraj. He said: "He is a servant who commits a sin, and Allah, Blessed and Exalted, gives him respite and renews the blessing for him so that seeking forgiveness for sins is made to slip from his mind. So he is one drawn on by degrees, from where he does not know."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): If someone's living conditions improve and he obtains wealth and blessings, and he does not consider that it may be for a test, he has counted himself safe from its terrifying consequences.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): Among the statements of Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him) in his letter in reply to the people of Ahwaz, when they had asked him about jabr (predestination) and tafwid (delegation), are these words... Then Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him) said: This saying of Allah the Exalted: "We shall certainly test all of you, until it becomes clear who are the true strivers and the patient among you, and until We try your reports" (Muhammad/31), and His saying: "We shall gradually draw them toward punishment from where they do not know," and again His saying: "Do they think that they will be left alone on saying: 'We believe,' and that they will not be tested?" (Ankabut/2) — all of these have come in the Book of Allah with the meaning of trial and testing.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): How many a person is deceived by the blessings Allah has given him, and how many are caught off guard by Allah's covering [of their sins] over them, and how many people are deluded by the praise of people.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): So know that soon after me a time will come upon you in which nothing will be more hidden than the truth and nothing more manifest than falsehood, and nothing more widespread than lies against Allah the Exalted and His Messenger. Among the people of that time, the most worthless commodity will be the Book of Allah — if it is read as it ought to be read. And no commodity will have more buyers than that very Book of Allah... whereas the Quran is not their leader; nothing of the truth is seen among them except its name, and nothing of the Quran remains among them except its script and writing. There is one who hears the fame of the wisdoms of the Quran and enters to follow it, but he has not yet risen from that gathering before he goes out of the religion, and passes from the way of one king to the creed of another king, and from being under the guardianship of one king to the guardianship of another king, and from obedience to one ruler to obedience of another ruler, and from the covenants of one sovereign to the covenants of another sovereign. Gradually, in a manner they themselves do not understand, Allah the Exalted draws them to destruction through hope and expectation — and indeed the snare of Allah is very firm — until they are born in sin and disobedience and practise religion through injustice.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Indeed the place and outcome of deceit and trickery is in the Fire. Therefore be in fear of Allah and beware of His might. Truly, after Allah has completed His proof upon His servants and warned them, He is no longer pleased that they should, without realising it, cast themselves away from the divine threshold and draw near, step by step, to destruction and be caught off guard. Because of this, the servant falls into futile effort, until he forgets fulfilling the covenant [with Allah] and imagines to himself that these efforts have been good, and he remains constantly in illusion and hope and heedlessness of the news that has come to him. He ties knots upon his own affair and, with all his effort, casts himself into destruction, and he misuses the short respite Allah has granted him, and becomes of one heart with the heedless, and spends his time with the sinners, and disputes with the people of faith concerning obedience to Allah.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whenever you see that Allah the Exalted gives a servant what he loves while that servant persists in his sin and disobedience, then know that this is istidraj (a gradual drawing towards destruction) for that servant. Allah the Exalted says: سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ مِنْ حَیْثُ لا یَعْلَمُونَ [We shall gradually draw them on from where they do not know].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ الَّذِینَ کَذَّبُوا بِآیاتِنا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ مِنْ حَیْثُ لا یَعْلَمُون [And (as to) those who reject Our signs, We shall draw them on by degrees from whence they know not] — meaning that despite their committing sins, We again grant them blessings [so that they sink deeper into their misguidance].