Reminder: Do not praise yourself

Do not exalt yourself, for there is no servant whose record is free of both good deeds and sins. All sins arise from the stirrings of the soul and the following of its desires, whilst all good deeds are from the grace of God and His enabling.
Had God willed, He could have forsaken you and left you to yourself, and you would have perished in the wilderness of conceit. Yet, in His gentleness, He guided you towards obedience, opened for you the gates of goodness, and made easy for you the paths of righteousness and benevolence.
So do not be deluded by a deed you imagine to be of your own earning, nor be vain about an act of devotion you suppose to have come from your own power and strength. You are but a needy servant; you stand only by your Lord’s aid, and your feet remain firm only by His steadfasting.
Know that whoever recognises God’s favour upon him sees his deeds as small in his own eyes, and his shortcomings as great within his heart. Therefore, abound in praise, persist in gratitude, seek forgiveness for your lapses, and ask God for acceptance and steadfastness.
Truly fortunate is the one who sees God’s blessing in his good deeds and his own fault in his sins; who humbles himself before his Lord, breaks in humility at His door, and asks for enduring guidance and a blessed end.

(by: Dr Mohammed Akram Nadwi, Oxford, 5 Ramadan 1447)