قال الحسن البصري رحمه الله: «إنَّ الله عز وجل يُذلُّ العاصين بمعصيتهم له، ولو أكرمهم لعصمهم من الوقوع في المعاصي، ومن أذلّهم الله فلا مُكرِم له؛ لأنه قال: {وَمَن يُهِنِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِن مُّكْرِمٍ} [الحج: 18]». ويستمر الإنسان أيضاً في ارتكاب الذنب حتى يستصغره، وكلما استصغره الإنسان عَظُم عند الله واشتد خطره. وقال ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه: «إن المؤمن يرى ذنوبه كأنه قاعد تحت جبل يخاف أن يقع عليه، وإن الفاجر يرى ذنوبه كذباب مرّ على أنفه، فقال به هكذا فذهب».4

Al-Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: "Allah ~ disgraces them (sinners) as they disobeyed Him. If He ~ had honoured them, He ~ would have safeguarded them from committing sins; and those Allah ~ humiliates will have no one to honour them; for He ~ said: (Whomsoever Allah disgraces, none can honour him) 3 A person also continues to commit a sin until he attaches little importance to it, and the more a sin becomes insignificant to a person, the more it becomes serious and great in the Sight of Allah. Ibn Mas'ud ~ said: "A believer sees his sins as if they were the base of a mountain, which he fears might fall on him; whereas the sinner considers his sins like some flies landing on his nose, which he repels so they fly away."4