Old Age Repentance

There was a young man among the children of Israel who worshipped Allah for twenty years. He then disobeyed Allah for twenty years.

Then, one day, looking in the mirror, he noticed the whiteness of his beard and was taken aback by what he saw.

He said: "O my Lord, I had obeyed you for twenty years and I then disobeyed you for twenty years. Now if I return to You, will You accept me?"

He then heard a caller say: "You loved Us and We loved You. You left Us, and so We left you. You disobeyed Us, and so We gave you respite. And if you return to Us, We will accept you."

Moral

This story teaches us the important principle of never despairing of the mercy of Allah. In the Qur'an Allah has said "Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [Surah az-Zumar 39:53] Shaykh al-Fawzaan said "It is worse to be hopeless about the forgiveness of Allah than to sin." (al-Ittihaf, p. 524)