The angels say: My Lord, that is Your servant who intends an evil deed — You know him best

قول الملائكة: رب ذاك عبدك يريد أن يعمل سيئة وهو أبصر به

In the hadith qudsi: if a servant intends an evil deed it is not written against him until he does it; if he does it a sin or crime is written; if he intends a good deed it is not written for him until he does it; if he does it Allah writes it ten to seven hundred fold; and the angels say: My Lord, that is Your servant who intends an evil deed — You know him best ¹ Forty 37.

The story

From the hadith of Ibn Abbas in the Forty of al-Nawawi with Ibn Rajab's commentary marfu' from his Lord: Allah wrote down good deeds and bad deeds then made it clear — whoever intends a good deed and does not do it, Allah writes it a complete good deed; if he intends it and does it, Allah writes it ten to seven hundred fold to many multiples; whoever intends an evil deed and does not do it, Allah writes it a complete good deed; if he intends it and does it, Allah writes it an evil deed or crime; and the angels say: My Lord, that is Your servant who intends an evil deed — You know him best ¹ Forty 37.

The meaning

In this hadith qudsi the angels witness the servant's intention before he acts, and Allah honours whoever abandons the evil deed at the mere intention by writing a complete good deed ¹.

Notes

From the qadar hadiths in Ibn Rajab's commentary on the Forty; the Jinn & Devils Browser shows it in the angels section ¹.

Arba'un 37 — God wrote the good deeds and the evil deeds

The hadith of Ibn Abbas, reporting from his Lord through the Messenger of God: 'God wrote the good deeds and the evil deeds, then made that plain: whoever resolves on a good deed and does not do it, God writes it down with Him as a complete good deed; if he resolves on it and does it, God writes it down as ten good deeds to seven hundred times over to many times more; and if he resolves on an evil deed and does not do it, He writes it down as a complete good deed; and if he resolves on it and does it, God writes it down as a single evil deed' — the thirty-seventh of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary, transmitted by al-Bukhari (6491) and Muslim (131) through al-Ja'd Abu Uthman from Abu Raja' al-Utaridi from Ibn Abbas, Muslim's route adding at the end 'or God erases it — and none perishes with God but the doomed'; in the same sense come further hadiths, among them Abu Hurayra's report in the two Sahihs: 'God says: when My servant intends an evil deed, do not write it against him until he does it — if he does it write it down as its like, and if he leaves it for My sake write it down for him as a good deed; and when he intends a good deed and does not do it write it down for him as a good deed, and if he does it write it down for him as ten times its like to seven hundred times', together with Ibn Hibban's wording and the wording of the angels' report, 'Lord, that servant of Yours wishes to do an evil deed — though He sees him best' (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 754–769).

The angels say: My Lord, that is Your servant who intends an evil deed — You know him best

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Arba'un 37 — God wrote the good deeds and the evil deeds