An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths.
On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both,
from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
among the traditions he narrated from his Lord, Blessed and Exalted,
that He said: "Indeed, Allah has decreed the good deeds and the evil deeds,
and then made that clear:
Whoever intends to do a good deed but does not do it,
Allah records it with Himself as a full good deed.
If he intends to do it and then performs it,
Allah records it with Himself as ten good deeds,
up to seven hundredfold,
or even many times more.
And if he intends to do an evil deed but does not do it,
Allah records it with Himself as a full good deed.
But if he intends to do it and performs it,
Allah records it as a single evil deed."
Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
This hadith illustrates the boundless mercy and absolute justice of Allah,
for He has ordained both good and evil deeds,
making clear that a good deed is multiplied tenfold or far more,
whereas an evil deed is recorded only as a single sin or forgiven through repentance.
It also clarifies that the mere intention to do good earns its bearer a reward,
and that abandoning sin for the sake of Allah is itself recorded as a good deed.
Thus, the hadith nurtures in the Muslim an optimistic hope in the vastness of Allah's mercy,
encouraging him to constantly intend good, hasten toward repentance, and forsake disobedience,
for Allah is Most Generous and never allows the reward of any doer of good to be lost.