Chapter I: Repentance
It is related that when a Prophet of Banue Israil committed a sin, God revealed to him: By My honour, if you commit sin another time, I will give you punishment. The Prophet said : O my Lord, you are you and I am I. By your honour, if you do not save me, I may commit another sin. God then saved him. A certain sage said : If a man commits sins and then repents for his whole life, he shall enter Paradise. The devil will then say : Alas, why have I thrown him into a sinful act? Ibn Masud one day saw a man committing a sinful act. He asked him: Is there any repentance for this sin? Ibn Masud first turned away from him .and then looking towards him saw that he was shedding tears.
He said to him : Paradise has got eight doors all of which will not be closed or opened. An angel will be entrusted with its not closing. So act and act and don't be despaired. Abdur Rahman-bin- Abul Qasem said. We were discussing with Abdul-Rahman about repentance of the unbelievers and also about the verse of God : If they desist, He will forgive thejtt past sins. He said : Hope that the condition of the Muslims Will be good near God. I heard that the repentance of the Muslims after Islam will be like their acceptance of Islam. Abdullah-b-Salam said: You are narrating the following Hadis after hearing it from the Prophet or knowing it from the Book of God-When a man commits a sin and then repents for it soon, his sins drop down sooner than the twinkling of an eye. Hazart Omar said : Sit with those who repents as their hearts are very soft.
If is related that a man of Banu Israil were engaged in commission of sins for twenty years after his divine service for twenty years. Thereafter when has look was drawn towards a beautiful woman, he said that his beard had grown grey. He felt grieved for this and he prayed to God : O God, I did your service for 20 years and then committed sins for the last 20 years. If I turn to You now with repentance, will You accept me? Someone from the unseen said : When you had loved Me, I had loved you. When you gave me up, I gave you up. When you committed sins again, I gave you a time. If you now return to Me, I will accept you.
Jun-Nun said : There are such servants of God who saturate with the water of repentance the tree of sins when it grows. The fruits
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of sorrow and penance then come out of it. They go mad without
madness and fool without foolishness. They are the givers of
lessons, speakers and well-informed of God and His Apostle.
They drink water from the cups of purity and remain patient for
long in sorrows and difficulties. Then their minds become eager
to sojourn in heavens, their thoughts enter into the mysteries of
the spiritual world, they take shelter in the canopy of repentance
and read then the records of sins. As a result fear enters their
hearts and reaches the utmost limit of renunciation embarking in