May Allah benefit me through it as He wills to benefit me. And whenever a man among his Companions narrated to me, I would ask him to swear an oath, and if he swore to me, I would believe him. And Abu Bakr narrated to me—and Abu Bakr spoke the truth—he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: "There is no man who commits a sin, then stands, purifies himself, then prays, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, except that Allah forgives him." Then he recited this verse: {And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah} to the end of the verse [Al 'Imran: 135](1).

In this chapter, there is also a narration from Ibn Mas'ud, Abu al-Darda', Anas, Abu Umamah, Mu'adh, Wathilah, and Abu al-Yasar—whose name is Ka'b ibn 'Amr(2).

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(1) Its chain of transmission is good (hasan). Asma' ibn al-Hakam was narrated from by 'Ali ibn Rabi'ah al-Walibi, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him in "Al-Thiqat," and al-'Ijli declared him trustworthy. Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn 'Adi graded this hadith of his as good, and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar deemed its chain sound in "Al-Tahdhib," and Ibn Hibban authenticated it.
It was also recorded by Abu Dawud (1521), Ibn Majah (1395), al-Nasa'i in "'Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah" (414) and (417), and in "Al-Kubra" (11078), and it is in "Musnad Ahmad" (2), and "Sahih Ibn Hibban" (623).
(2) The hadith of Ibn Mas'ud was recorded by al-Bukhari (4687) and Muslim (2763), that a man kissed a woman, then came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and mentioned that to him, and it was revealed to him: {And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night. Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds. That is a reminder for those who remember} [Hud: 114]. The man said: "Is this for me?" He said: "For whoever acts upon it from my Ummah."
The hadith of Abu al-Darda' was narrated by al-Tabarani in "Al-Awsat" (5022) with the wording: "There is no Muslim who commits a sin, then performs ablution, then prays two or four rak'ahs, obligatory or voluntary, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, except that Allah forgives him," and its chain is good.
The hadith of Anas ibn Malik was recorded by al-Bukhari (6823) and Muslim (2765). He said: =