Allah's forgiveness of great sins and the vastness of His mercy

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: One day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out and said: "For Allah Almighty, forgiving any sin is no great matter. Among those who came before you there was a man who had killed 98 people. He went to a monk and said: 'I have killed 98 people; do you find any room for repentance for me?' The monk said to him: 'You have gone to great excess' (that is, there is no room for repentance for you). The man got up, went to the monk and killed him as well. Then he went to another monk and said: 'I have killed 99 people; do you find any room for repentance for me?' The monk said: 'No! You have gone to great excess.' The man got up, advanced towards him and killed him as well. Then he went to another monk and said: 'I have killed 100 people; do you find any room for repentance for me?' The monk said: 'You have gone to great excess, and I do not know (what its ruling will be); however, there are two towns here. One town is called Nasrah and the other town is called Kafrah. As for the town called Nasrah, the people living there do the deeds of the people of Paradise, and no one other than them can stay in that town. As for the town called Kafrah, its people do the deeds of the people of Hell, and no one other than them can stay there. So go to the people living in Nasrah; if you remain there and begin to act like its people, you will have no doubt about your repentance.' The man set out to go to that town. When he reached the middle between the two towns, death overtook him. The angels asked their Lord about this man, and the Lord said: 'Examine which of the two towns he is nearer to, and then record him among the people of that town.' The angels found that he was nearer to the town called Nasrah by the distance of a fingertip, so he was counted among the people of that town."
At-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Abd al-Rahman bin Ziyad bin An'um; a group declared him da'if (weak) and more than one declared him thiqah (trustworthy).

Abu Abd Rabb narrates that he heard Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) relate on the pulpit that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A man wronged himself (that is, committed sins). He met another man, and the first man told him that he had committed 99 killings, all of them unjustly: 'So is there any room for repentance for me?' The second man replied: 'No!' The first man killed him as well. Then that first man came to another person and told him: 'I have committed 100 killings, all of them unjustly; do you find any room for repentance for me?' That person said: 'If I were to tell you that Allah Almighty does not accept the repentance of one who repents, I would be telling you something false. There are some people here who worship; go to them and worship Allah Almighty along with them.' The man set out to go to those people and died on the way. The angels of mercy and the angels of punishment gathered (to take him into their charge). Allah Almighty sent an angel to them, and that angel said: 'Measure the distance between the two places; whichever of the two he is nearer to, he will be counted among them.' They found that the man was nearer to the monastery of the penitent by the distance of a fingertip, so Allah Almighty forgave him."
At-Tabarani recorded it with two chains; the narrators of one of them are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Abu Abd Rabb, and he is thiqah (trustworthy).
Abu Ya'la also recorded it similarly.

Abu Qays, the freed slave of Banu Jumah, narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Zam'ah al-Balawi (may Allah be pleased with him). He had the honour of taking part in the Pledge of Ridwan, and he pledged allegiance to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) beneath the tree. One day he came to the mosque of Fustat and stood in the courtyard. It had reached him about Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was strict in certain matters, so he said: Do not be harsh with people, for I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A man from the Children of Israel killed 97 people. Then he went to a monk and said: 'I have killed 97 people; do you find any room for repentance for me?' The monk said: 'No!' The man killed that monk as well. Then he went to another monk and said: 'I have killed 98 people; do you find any room for repentance for me?' This monk too replied: 'No!' The man killed him as well. Then he went to a third monk and said: 'I have killed 99 people, among whom were two monks; do you find any room for repentance for me?' The monk said: 'You have done an evil deed, but if I were to say that Allah Almighty is not Forgiving and Merciful, my words would be false. Repent to Allah Almighty!' The man said: 'After these words of yours, I will not part from you now.' After that he began to live with that monk, on the condition that he would not disobey him, and he kept serving him, until one day a man died who had been spoken of with censure. When that man was buried, he (the repentant killer) sat at his grave and wept greatly. Then another man passed away who had been spoken of with praise. When that man was buried, he (the repentant killer) sat at his grave and laughed a great deal. His companions objected to this. They gathered before their head and said: 'How can this man (the repentant killer) stay with you, when he has killed several people, and you have now seen what he has done?' So doubt arose concerning that man in the heart of the monk and in the hearts of his companions. On one occasion that man came to their head, and his companion was with him, and he spoke with him. The man asked the monk: 'What do you command me?' The monk said: 'Go and kindle an oven!' The man did so, then came and told the monk that he had done it. The monk said: 'Go and throw yourself into that oven!' The monk then became heedless of the man, and the man went and threw himself into the oven. Then, when the monk remembered, he said: 'I think that man has thrown himself into the oven because of what I said.' So the monk went and found that the man was alive in the oven and was sweating. The monk took him by the hand, brought him out of the oven and said: 'Now it is not fitting that you serve me; rather, now I will serve you. But tell me: why did you weep over the first man who died, and why did you laugh over the second?' The man said: 'As for the first person, when he was buried I saw the evil state being inflicted upon him, and I remembered my own sins and began to weep. As for the second person, I saw goodness being bestowed upon him, so I began to laugh.' Afterwards that man was counted among the great ones (that is, the great worshippers) of the Children of Israel."
At-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Ibn Lahi'ah, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "There were two towns; one of them was righteous and the other was wrongdoing. A man set out from the wrongdoing town intending to go to the righteous town. Death overtook him where Allah willed. An angel and Satan disputed over him. Satan said: 'By Allah! He never once disobeyed me.' The angel said: 'But he set out intending repentance.' So it was decided between the two of them that it be examined which of the two towns he was nearer to. They found that he was nearer to the righteous town by one hand-span, so the man was forgiven." Ma'mar narrates: I heard someone say: "Allah Almighty had brought the righteous town closer to him."
At-Tabarani recorded it as a mawquf narration, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Before this the hadith has passed in which it is mentioned: "A man instructed his children that when he died they should burn him." It is mentioned at the beginning of the Book of Repentance, in this chapter: Chapter: One who fears his sins. Another remarkable chain of this narration will come in the chapters relating to intercession, if Allah wills.