THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCING FEAR AND HOPE FOR THE BELIEVER
It is befitting for the believer that his fear and his hope (in Allaah) be one (i.e. equal). Since whichever of the two is allowed to overwhelm; then its companion is destroyed, Imaam Ahmad has given textual proof concerning this.
This is because whosever’s fear overwhelms (the other) then he falls into a form of despair, and whosever’s hope overwhelms (the other) then he falls into a form of feeling immunity from the plan of Allaah.
Shaykh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah
Ikhtiyaaraat al-Fiqhiyyah min Fataawaa Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah page: 85
Translated by Aboo Haatim Muhammad Farooq