A Quranic Journal

Quran 28:84:

Who comes with beautiful deeds, so for him is better than that. And who comes with evil deeds, so he is not recompensed for working evil except what he has done.

What this verse is saying is that the reward of a good deed is greater in value than the deed itself, but the punishment of a bad deed is of the same value as the deed itself. In other words, God is "stacking the deck" in favor of good deeds.

In the traditional commentaries, this verse is related to 2:261:

The parable of those who spend their wealth in the path of Allah is that of a grain of corn: it grows seven ears and in each ear are a hundred grains. Allah gives increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.

which is explained by several hadiths, first:

Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said: Every good deed that the son of Adam performs will be multiplied ten folds, to seven hundred folds, to many other folds, to as much as Allah wills...

Second:

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet ... said, "Allah ordered that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed how. If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed; and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him with Him from ten to seven hundred times to many more times (in reward): and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed with Him, and if he intended to do it and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed."

This second hadith brings us back full circle to the original verse and explains its meaning.

Think about this in regard to times when you're struggling to avoid sin and do right. If you intend to do something wrong, but you refrain from it, God will reward you. And if you intend to do something good, but you aren't able to do it, God will still reward you. When you finally do complete the good thing, God will reward you ten, seven hundred, or many more times. And if you do commit a sin, it only counts as one bad deed.

We don't want to fall into a tally-sheet mentality, but this little mathematical exercise illustrates in a clear way how much God wants us to do good and how much He encourages us, and how forgiving He is when we do wrong.