repented more often than any of us. We ask Allah to accept our repentance and yours, and to guide us together to the straight path. Allah is the One who grants success.

15- Abu Ḥamzah Anas ibn Mālik al-Anṣārī—servant of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “Allah is happier over the repentance of His servant than one of you would be if, after losing his camel in a trackless wilderness, he suddenly found it and fell upon it.” Agreed upon.

Muslim records another wording: “Allah rejoices more at His servant’s repentance, when the servant turns back to Him, than one of you would rejoice if he were riding through a desolate land on his mount, which slipped away from him while all his food and drink were on it. Despairing of it, he came to a tree, lay down in its shade, and then, from the sheer intensity of joy, exclaimed, ‘O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord!’—a slip of the tongue caused by overwhelming happiness.”

Explanation

His phrase, “the servant of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,” refers to the time when, upon the Prophet’s arrival in Medina, Anas’s mother brought him to the Messenger of Allah and said, “This is Anas ibn Mālik; he will serve you.” The Prophet accepted the offer, and Anas became one of his attendants.

Anas—may Allah be pleased with him—recounted that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Allah’s joy at His servant’s repentance when he turns back to Him is greater than the joy of that man who fell upon his riding beast after having lost it,…"