three things: that you worship Him and associate nothing with Him; that all of you hold fast to the rope of Allah and do not become divided; and that you offer sincere counsel to whomever Allah has placed in authority over you.” (1).
And he said:
“Allah has greater joy at the repentance of His [believing] (2) servant than a man whose mount had strayed from him in an inhospitable, deadly land, with his food and drink upon it. He searched for it but could not find it, so he lay down awaiting death. When he awoke, suddenly—Alif, Bā: ‘then suddenly’—his animal was there, with his food and drink upon it. Allah has greater joy at the repentance of His servant than this [man] (3) has at regaining his mount.”
This hadith is found in the Sahih collections through numerous routes. It is widely transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and there is agreement upon its authenticity and firmly established transmission (4). The same is true of other reports like it.
And if (5) this is so, He wills acts of obedience from His servants with the will (* that entails
(1) This is the hadith previously discussed on p. 159. Its wording in *al-Muwattaʾ*, narrated from Abū Hurayrah, is that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Allah is pleased with three things for you and displeased with three things. He is pleased that you worship Him without associating anything with Him, that you all hold fast to the rope of Allah, and that you offer sincere counsel to those whom Allah has placed in authority over you. He is displeased with gossip, wasting wealth, and asking too many questions.” I previously noted that the hadith appears in *al-Musnad*, al-Maʿārif ed., 16:144, 292–293. The final portion also appears, with the same meaning, in another hadith narrated from al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah—may Allah be pleased with him—in *al-Bukhārī*, Muslim, and *al-Musnad*.
(2) “Believing” is omitted from (N), (M), and (ʿ).
(3) “Man” is omitted from (N), (M), and (ʿ).
(4) The hadith is narrated, with varying wording, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd and other Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—in *al-Bukhārī*, 8:68, Book of Supplications, chapter “Repentance”; Muslim, 4:2102–2105, Book of Repentance, chapter “Encouragement to Repent and Rejoicing in It”; *al-Musnad*, al-Maʿārif ed., 5:225; al-Halabī ed., 4:275; and Ibn al-Athīr’s *Jāmiʿ al-Usūl*, 3:65–67.
(5) (M) and (N) read: “Then, if.”