What is the relationship between repentance and the subsequent trial, and is the trial a punishment, an elevation of rank, an expiation of sins, or a test of the sincerity of repentance?

The penitent may be afflicted as an expiation for his sins, or as a test of the sincerity of his repentance, so that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good. The one who is sincere in his repentance prefers the punishment of this world over the torment of the Hereafter, just as the sorcerers of Pharaoh did.