19 – Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah—Mighty and Majestic—continues to accept His servant’s repentance so long as the soul has not yet reached the throat.”(1) Related by al-Tirmidhī, who said: “A good (ḥasan) ḥadīth.

20 – Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh said: I came to Ṣafwān ibn ʿAssāl (may Allah be pleased with him) to ask him about wiping over the khuffayn (leather socks). He asked, “What has brought you here, O Zirr?” I replied, “The pursuit of knowledge.” He said, “The angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge, pleased with what he seeks.” I said, “A doubt has lingered(2) in my heart about wiping over the khuffayn after defecation and urination. You were a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ, so I have come to ask whether you heard him mention anything on that matter.” He said, “Yes. He used to command us, when we were on a journey—or travellers—not to remove our leather socks for three days and nights, except in the case of janābah (major ritual impurity); but after defecation, urination, or sleep we could simply wipe over them.

“I then asked, ‘Did you hear him mention anything about love (for Allah and His Messenger)?’ He said, ‘Yes. We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey when a Bedouin called out to him in a loud, booming voice(3): “O Muḥammad!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ answered him in a voice similar to his, saying, “Here I am!”(4) I said to the man, “Woe to you!(5) Lower your voice, for you are in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, and you have been forbidden to do that!” He replied, “By Allah, I will not lower it.”

‘The Bedouin then asked, “A man loves a people but has not yet matched their deeds; will he still be with them?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “A person will be with those he loves on the Day of Resurrection.”

‘He kept speaking to us until he mentioned a gate in the west whose breadth a rider would need forty—or seventy—years to cross.’ Sufyān, one of the narrators, added: ‘It faces toward Syria. Allah, Exalted is He, created it the day He created the heavens and the earth; it has remained open for repentance and will not be closed until the sun rises from that direction.’

Reported by al-Tirmidhī and others, who said: “A good and authentic (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ) ḥadīth.”

21 – Abū Saʿīd, Saʿd ibn Mālik ibn Sinān al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that