—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said: “Allah rejoices more greatly at His servant’s repentance when he turns to Him than one of you whose mount escaped from him in a barren wilderness while carrying his food and drink. Having despaired of recovering it, he came to a tree and lay down in its shade, utterly hopeless of finding his mount. While he was in that state, suddenly it was standing beside him. He grasped its halter and, overcome with joy, said: ‘O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord.’ He misspoke because of his intense joy.” Muslim narrated it in his Sahīh from Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him1.

A Muslim should not delay repentance, put it off, or procrastinate over it. Rather, he must repent immediately and hasten to do so, for a person does not know what may befall him in this life. The door of repentance remains open to the servant so long as he has not begun the death rattle. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Repentance is not for those who commit evil deeds until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘Now I repent.’” 2 In the hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad from Ibn Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both—the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Allah Most High accepts His servant’s repentance so long as he has not begun the death rattle.” 3 That is, so long as his soul has not reached his throat.

Likewise, Allah does not accept His servant’s repentance once the sun rises from the west. In Imam Ahmad’s Musnad and the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd, Muāwiya—may Allah be pleased with him—reported that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Emigration will not cease until repentance ceases, and repentance will not cease until the sun rises from the west.”4.