Musnad Ahmad 482:21

Yahya ibn Ghaylan narrated to us, he said: Rishdin—meaning Ibn Sa'd Abu al-Hajjaj al-Mahri—narrated to us, from Harmalah ibn 'Imran al-Tujibi, from 'Uqbah ibn Muslim, from 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir, from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who said: "If you see that Allah gives the servant from the world, despite his acts of disobedience, what he loves, then it is only a gradual enticement (istidraj)." Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, recited: "So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every thing, until when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were then in despair." [Al-An'am: 44]