164 — Yahyā ibn Ayyūb narrated to us: Asbāt narrated to us, from Abū Rajāʾ al-Khurāsānī ⦗119⦘, from ʿAbbād ibn Kathīr, from al-Jurayrī, from Abū Nadrah, from Jābir and Abū Saʿīd—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Beware of backbiting, for backbiting is graver than illicit sexual intercourse. A man may commit illicit sexual intercourse and then repent, whereupon Allah accepts his repentance; but the backbiter will not be forgiven until the person he backbit forgives him.”