from Abu Hurayrah, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Allah is surely more delighted by His servant’s repentance than one of you would be upon finding his lost mount in a desolate land where thirst had almost killed him.’”
This ḥadith has a good chain of transmission, and its wording also appears in the Ṣaḥīḥ (1) through another route.
Al-Layth ibn Saʿd related about ten traditions from Ibn al-Hād, from Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd.
Ibrāhīm, moreover, was proficient in the craft of singing.
Ibn ʿAdī mentioned him in his al-Kāmil, listing several narrations that he regarded as objectionable.
Among the most problematic is the following. Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī said, “I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal asked about the ḥadith reported by Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd, from his father, from Anas, in which the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘The leaders are from Quraysh.’ (2) He replied, ‘That is not found in Ibrāhīm’s books; it ought not to have any basis.’”
I say: More than one person has transmitted this report from Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd.
(1) Muslim, no. 2675, Book of Repentance, on the authority of Abu Hurayra; also al-Bukhari, 11/91–92, Book of Supplications, chapter “Repentance,” and Muslim, no. 2747, on the authority of Anas b. Malik; likewise al-Bukhari, 11/89–90, and Muslim, no. 2744, on the authority of al-Nuʿman b. Bashir, and Muslim, no. 2746, on the authority of al-Baraʾ b. ʿAzib.
The word muhlika is read with a fatḥa on both the mīm and the lām, meaning “a cause of destruction for anyone who falls into it.” Another reading, muhlika, puts ḍamma on the mīm and kasra on the lām (from the quadriliteral verb), meaning “it itself is destroyed along with the one who falls into it.”
Al-Qurtubi (the ḥadith scholar, not the Qurʾan commentator) says in al-Mufhim, 4/260: this parable illustrates how swiftly Allah accepts the repentance of His servant, turning to him with forgiveness and mercy, and treating him as someone rejoicing at his return. The rationale is that the sinner, by disobedience, falls under Satan’s grip and is on the brink of ruin; when Allah gently guides him to repent, he escapes the evil of that sin, is freed from Satan’s captivity, and saved from impending destruction—whereupon Allah turns to him with mercy and forgiveness.
(2) Reported by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi in his Musnad, 2/163, through the chain Ibrahim b. Saʿd—his father—Anas: the Prophet said, “The leaders must be from Quraysh; when they rule, they must rule justly; when they pledge, they must fulfill; and when they seek mercy, they must show mercy. Whoever among them fails to do that will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people.” The chain is sound. Also narrated by Ahmad, 3/129, on the authority of Anas.