If you say: How has he attributed the beautification of their deeds to Himself, while he attributed it to the devil in His saying: 'And the devil beautified for them their deeds'? I say: There is a difference between the two attributions. The attribution to the devil is real, while the attribution to Allah, the Exalted, is metaphorical. It has been narrated from Al-Hasan that what is meant is: 'We beautified for them the good deeds, but they became blind to them and did not guide themselves to act upon them.' Ahmad said: This answer is based on the flawed principle of necessitating the consideration of what is good and better, and the impossibility that Allah, the Exalted, creates for the servant except what is beneficial. Therefore, the attribution of beautification to Allah, the Exalted, is metaphorical, and to the devil is real. If the answer were reversed, it would have been correct. Consider his inclination towards the other interpretation: that what is meant are the good deeds, despite its distance, because it does not contradict his principle. And this has come to them, while Allah has built their foundation. It is noteworthy that beautification has been mentioned in goodness in His saying: 'But Allah has made faith beloved to you and has beautified it in your hearts.' However, most of its occurrences are in contexts other than good deeds, such as His saying: 'Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire,' and 'Beautified for those who disbelieved is the life of this world.' Likewise, it has been beautified for many of the polytheists. Among the reasons that make it unlikely to refer to good deeds is the addition of the deeds to them in His saying: 'their deeds,' while the good deeds are not attributed to them, as they never performed them. The apparent addition indicates that. Do you not see His saying: 'And when faith had not yet entered your hearts' and His saying: 'Say: Do not count your Islam as a favor to me; rather, Allah has bestowed a favor upon you that He has guided you to faith'? He has mentioned faith in both places without attributing it to them because it did not originate from them, while He attributed the apparent Islam to them because it originated from them. And Allah knows best. The metaphorical attribution has two pathways in the science of rhetoric. The first is that it is from the metaphor known as metaphorical transfer. The second is that it is from the metaphorical attribution of judgment. As for the first pathway: when He granted them long life and ample provision, they made Allah's blessings upon them and His kindness to them a means to follow their desires, their arrogance, and their preference for leisure and indulgence, turning away from what requires them to undertake difficult obligations and burdensome tasks. It is as if He beautified for them their deeds. This is what the angels, blessings of Allah be upon them, indicated in their saying: 'But You have granted them and their forefathers until they forgot the remembrance.' As for the second pathway: it is the devil's respite and his allowance to beautify for them an apparent engagement for beautification. It is attributed to him because the metaphorical attribution of judgment is validated by some circumstances. It has been said: These are the good deeds that they were obliged to perform; Allah beautified them for them, but they became blind to them and went astray, which is attributed to Al-Hasan. 'Blindness' means confusion and hesitation, as is the case with one who is lost from the path. And from some of the Bedouins: he entered the market without having seen it before, and he said: 'I saw the people in confusion,' meaning: hesitating in their deeds and occupations. 'The worst of punishment' refers to killing and captivity on the Day of Badr. 'The greatest losers' are the most severely lost people, for if they had believed, they would have been among the martyrs over all nations, thus they lost that along with the loss of salvation and the reward from Allah.