He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about the saying:

“One who seeks forgiveness is not persisting in sin, even if he returns to it seventy times in a day and a night.”

Does this mean merely uttering words of forgiveness, or must the person seeking forgiveness intend in his heart not to return to the sin? If someone repents of a sin, resolves in his heart not to return to it, and refrains from it for a time, but then commits it again, will the earlier sin be added to the later one, or will it have been forgiven through his earlier repentance? Will someone who repents of drinking wine and wearing silk drink wine and wear silk in the Hereafter? What are the conditions of sincere repentance?

He answered:

All praise is due to Allah. Rather, what is meant is seeking forgiveness with the heart as well as the tongue. One who repents of sin is like one who has no sin, as stated in the other hadith:

“No sin remains major when forgiveness is sought, and no sin remains minor when one persists in it.”

If a person persists in a minor sin, it becomes a major sin; if he repents of it, it is forgiven. Allah Most High says:

“And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins”—and the rest of the verse.