Adam's Question, and the Mercy That Outweighs

It is said that Ādam (peace be upon him) once made duʿāʾ to Allah (swt), asking what chance he and all his progeny had against shayṭān, made an ardent enemy against them with all his invisible ways — what chance did they stand, would they not lose the very test they were being set? Allah (swt) answered Ādam (peace be upon him): for every human being, just as a shayṭān is appointed, a malak is appointed too, and for the sincere Muslim that malak will fight the shayṭān off, keeping him at bay. Ādam (peace be upon him) then asked for Allah's (swt) favour to be increased further still — this business of a malak warding off shayṭān being welcome, but more being wanted. Allah (swt) told him that for every good deed done, He multiplies it tenfold, but for every sin committed, only a single mark against it is recorded — one sayyiʾah for the sin.

Ādam (peace be upon him) asked for still more to be given him, and Allah (swt) told him: tell My servants, O Ādam, that those who have wronged themselves should not despair of the mercy of Allah — the same message, in effect, that Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) himself received in the Qurʾān. Inform My servants not to cut off hope from the mercy of Allah (swt), not to despair of it, never to throw up their hands and say, I cannot do this any more, finished, khalāṣ — because every time a person sins and asks forgiveness, Allah (swt) will forgive; this is His promise.