Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 3257 — Repentance and seeking forgiveness

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat one day and we were with him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, in the sight of Allah Almighty no sin is so great that He cannot forgive it. Indeed, among the people before you there was a man who had killed ninety-eight people. Then he came to a worshipper and asked him: I have killed ninety-eight souls; do you find any scope of repentance for me? He said: No. So that man killed him too. Then he came to another worshipper and told him that he had killed ninety-nine people: do you find any way of repentance for me? He said: No. So that man killed him too. Then he came to another scholar and informed him that he had killed a hundred souls: do you find any possibility of repentance for me? He said: You have indeed transgressed greatly, and I have no definite knowledge of your case; but here there are two settlements. One of them is called Nadrah, that is, the one of prosperity; its inhabitants do the deeds of the people of Paradise, and no one other than them stays among them. The other settlement is called Kafrah, that is, the one of wretchedness; its residents do the deeds of the people of Hell, and no one other than them stays among them either. So go to the people of Nadrah; if you do deeds like theirs and repent, then never doubt the acceptance of your repentance. So the man set out intending to reach that settlement, until, when he reached the middle point between the two settlements, the time of his death came. So the angels (peace be upon them) asked their Lord about him, and Allah, Majestic and Exalted, said: See which settlement he was nearer to, and write him down among the inhabitants of that settlement. So they found him nearer to the settlement of Nadrah by the length of one fingertip, and they wrote him down among the people of that settlement."
Imam Ahmad narrated this hadith in the Musnad. Its chain contains the narrator Abd al-Rahman bin Ziyad bin An'um al-Ifriqi, who is weak in memory; however, the basis of this incident is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), which serves as a witness for its text and strengthens it.