Remaining on the Path of Moderation

عن أبي هريرة رضي لله عنه أن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قال لكل عمل شرة ولكل شرة فترة فإن كان صاحبها سادّا أو قاربا فارجوه وإن أشير إليه بالأصابع فلا تعدوه (الترغيب والترهيب 1/109)

Hadhrat Abdullah bin Amr (Radhiyallahu Anhu) reports that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “For every action there is a motivation (enthusiasm in the action), and for every motivation there will be a decline. If after the decline, the one carrying out the deed adopts the path of moderation, then have hope of him being pious and rightly guided. And if fingers are pointed towards him (i.e. he does the action only for name and fame and to gain people’s praises), then do not consider him as a pious person (since he was only doing it for public praise and for show, he could not maintain punctuality and consistency in carrying out the good deed later on).”