Then We gave the Book as inheritance to those of Our servants whom We chose. [Yet among them is the one who has wronged himself, the one who is in the middle position and the one who is foremost in good deeds…]ʿUmar b. Wāṣil stated that he heard heard Sahl say:The one who is foremost (sābiq) is the one who is learned; one who is in the middle position (muqtaṣid) is the one who is learning (mutaʿallim), and the one who has wronged himself (ẓālim) is the one who is ignorant (jāhil).He also said:The one who is foremost is he who is only preoccupied with his Hereafter; the one who is in the middle position is the one who is preoccupied with his Hereafter and his life in this world; but the wrongdoer is he who is preoccupied only with his worldly life, without any concern for his Hereafter. Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (may God have mercy on him) said the foremost are those whose good deeds outweigh their misdeeds, those who are in the middle position are the ones whose good deeds and misdeeds balance each other, while the wrongdoers are those whose misdeeds outweigh their good deeds.His words:
