1980 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us; Israʾil narrated to us; from Saʿid ibn Masruq; from al-Mundhir al-Thawri; from al-Rabiʿ ibn Khuthaym, who said:

Whenever someone came to him he would say, “Servant of Allah, fear Allah concerning what you have learned, and whatever knowledge has been withheld from you, leave it to its Knower. In the matter of deeds I am more afraid for myself than for you ⦗274⦘ when it comes to error. The best among you today are not truly good, yet they are still better than a later generation that will be worse than them. They do not pursue good as it ought to be pursued, nor do they flee from evil as it ought to be fled. You have not grasped everything that was revealed to Muhammad, nor do you understand all that you recite.

Then he would say, ‘The hidden deeds, the hidden deeds—those secrets concealed from people but kept with Allah in a distant valley—seek a remedy for them.’ He would then add, ‘And what is their remedy? He repents and never returns (to the sin).’”