Arba'un 42 — son of Adam, so long as you call and hope in Me

الأربعون 42 — يا بن آدم إنك ما دعوتني ورجوتني غفرت لك

The hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may God be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say: 'God Most High said: son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and hope in Me, I forgive you whatever has issued from you, and I do not care; son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and then you sought My forgiveness, I would forgive you; son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and then meet Me associating nothing with Me, I would come to you with an earthful of forgiveness' — the forty-second and last of al-Nawawi's Forty in Ibn Rajab's commentary, uniquely transmitted by al-Tirmidhi (3540) through Kathir ibn Fa'id from Sa'id ibn Ubayd from Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani from Anas, graded hasan gharib 'known only from this route'; Ibn Rajab held its isnad not bad, Sa'id ibn Ubayd being al-Hina'i — Abu Hatim called him a shaykh and Ibn Hibban listed him among the trustworthy, whoever claims he is another having erred — while al-Daraqutni noted Kathir ibn Fa'id alone raised it, Sallam ibn Qutayba stopping it at Anas, and Abu Sa'id the client of Banu Hashim corroborating its elevation; a route through Thabit from Anas exists but Abu Hatim called it repudiated; it also comes through Abu Dharr in Ahmad — Shahr ibn Hawshab from Ma'dikarib from Abu Dharr reporting it from his Lord, and Shahr from Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanam from Abu Dharr, and the route of Akhshan al-Sadusi who is unknown — while the claimed route Shahr from Umm al-Darda' from Abu al-Darda' is unsound; and Ibn Abbas's version in al-Tabarani runs through Qays ibn al-Rabi' from Habib ibn Abi Thabit from Sa'id ibn Jubayr; Ibn Rajab drew from it that forgiveness is won by three means — supplication joined to hope, for which he cites al-Nu'man ibn Bashir's 'supplication is worship'; seeking forgiveness, for which Anas's report in Ahmad 'were you to err until your sins filled what lies between heaven and earth, then sought God's forgiveness, He would forgive you'; and meeting God without association, corroborated by Abu Dharr's sacred hadith in Muslim 'whoever meets Me with an earthful of sin associating nothing with Me, I meet him with an earthful of forgiveness' (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 830–863).