Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 37898 — The words of Talq bin Habib

It is narrated from Khalid al-Rib'i that he said: There was a man among the Children of Israel who was steeped in knowledge. He invented an innovation (bid'ah), then he called people to it and he began to be followed. One night this thought came to him, and he said: Leave these people aside; they do not know what I have invented. But does Allah Almighty not know this innovation that I have produced? He said: He went so far in his repentance that he pierced his collarbone, put a chain through it, tied it to one of the pillars of the mosque, and said: I will not undo it until my repentance is accepted. The narrator said: At this Allah Almighty sent revelation to one of the prophets of the Children of Israel, and revelation was not regarded as something strange: Say to so-and-so: If your sin were only between Me and you, I would forgive you. But what of those of My servants whom you led astray and who entered Hell?