1965 – Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd related to us; he said: ʿAlī ibn Mubashshir narrated to us; he said: Aḥmad ibn Sinān narrated to us; he said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us; he said: Hammām informed us, from Qatādah, who said: Abū al-Ṣiddīq told me that Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī reported to them, saying:
“I will recount to you only what I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—my own ears heard it and my heart retained it:
‘A servant once killed ninety-nine people. Then the thought of repentance occurred to him, so he asked about the most learned person on earth. He was directed to a man, so he went to him and said, “I have killed ninety-nine souls; is there any repentance for me?” The man replied, “After killing ninety-nine souls?” Thereupon the killer drew his sword and slew him, completing the tally at one hundred.
Again the idea of repentance came to him, so he asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth and was guided to another man. He went to him and said, “I have taken one hundred lives; is there any repentance for me?” The man answered, “Who can stand between you and repentance? Leave ⦗1127⦘ the wicked town you are in and go to such-and-such a righteous town, and worship your Lord there.”
So he set out, but death overtook him on the way. The angels of punishment and the angels of mercy disputed over him. Iblīs said, “He never disobeyed me for even a moment,” while the angels of the Most-Merciful said, “Yet he left in repentance.”’
Hammām continued: Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl told us, from Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī, from Abū Rāfiʿ, who said: ‘Allah then sent an angel, and they brought the dispute before him.’ He then resumed Qatādah’s report, saying: ‘Measure the distance to whichever of the two towns he is nearer, and count him among its people.’
Qatādah said: al-Ḥasan told us that when the man sensed death approaching, he drew himself toward the righteous town; so Allah brought that town closer to him and took the corrupt town farther away, and they reckoned him among the people of the righteous town.
Muslim recorded this ḥadīth from Shuʿbah and from Saʿīd, both transmitting it from Qatādah.”