عَنِ الْفَضْلِ بْنِ مُوسَى قَالَ: كَانَ الْفُضَيْلُ بْنُ عِيَاضٍ شَاطِرًا يَقْطَعُ الطَّرِيقَ بَيْنَ ابْيُورْدَ، وَسَرْخَسَ وَكَانَ سَبَبَ تَوْبَتِهِ أَنَّهُ عَشِقَ جَارِيَةً، فَبَيْنَمَا هُوَ يَرْتَقِي الْجُدْرَانَ إِلَيْهَا إِذْ سَمَعَ تَالِيًا يَتْلُو: {أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللهِ} [الحديد: 16]، قَالَ: فَلَمَّا سَمِعَهَا قَالَ: ” بَلَى يَا رَبِّ، قَدْ آنَ “، فَرَجَعَ، فَآوَاهُ اللَّيْلُ إِلَى خَرِبَةٍ، وَإِذَا فِيهَا سَابِلَةٌ، فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: نَرْتَحِلُ، وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: حَتَّى نُصْبِحَ، فَإِنَّ فُضَيْلًا عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ يَقْطَعُ عَلَيْنَا قَالَ: فَفَكَّرْتُ وَقُلْتُ: ” أَنَا أَسْعَى بِاللَّيْلِ فِي الْمَعَاصِي، وَقَوْمٌ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ ههُنَا يُخَوِّفُونَنِي، وَمَا أَرَى اللهَ سَاقَنِي إِلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا لِأَرْتَدِعَ، اللهُمَّ إِنِّي قَدْ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ، وَجَعَلْتُ تَوْبَتِي مُجَاوَرَةَ الْبَيْتِ الْحَرَامِ “

al-Fudayl ibn Musa rahimahullah said: “al-Fudayl ibn Iyyad was a highway robber who used to rob the path between Abeeward and Sarkhas. The cause of his repentance was that he was in love with a young girl. So while he was climbing a wall towards her, he heard a reciter reciting:

أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللهِ

Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah – Islamic Monotheism) to be affected by Allah’s Reminder (this Quran)

[57:16]

So when he heard it, he said: “Of course, my Lord! [Now] is the time. So he returned at night to a ruined land and found some passers. Some of them said “We should travel” and some said “we will wait for the morning, for verily Fudayl is on the path and he will rob us.” So I [al-Fudyal] thought and said “I travel in the night in disobedience and people here from the Muslims are afraid of me. I do not see except Allah is driving me towards them restrained [from evil]. O Allah! I repent to You and I make [part] of my repentance [living] near the Sacred House”

[Reported by Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Imaan (no.6935). The chain of transmission was graded Saheeh by the verifier, Mukhtaar Ahmad an-Nadwi (9/429)]

Translated by

Faisal Ibn Abdul Qaadir Ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan