I met Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and said to him, "Tell me of a deed I can perform by which Allah will admit me into Paradise," or I said, "of the deed most beloved to Allah."He remained silent. I asked him a second time, and he remained silent. Then I asked him a third time, so he said, "I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about that, and he said, 'You must perform many prostrations, for you do not prostrate to Allah a single prostration except that Allah raises you a degree by it and removes a sin from you by it.'"Madan said, I then met Abu Darda and asked him, and he told me the same as what Thawban had told me.
حدثنا الوليد بن مسلم قال سمعت الأوزاعي يقول حدثني الوليد بن هشام المعيطي حدثني
لقيت ثوبان مولى رسول الله ﷺ فقلت أخبرني بعمل أعمله يدخلني الله به الجنة أو قال قلت بأحب الأعمال إلى الله فسكت ثم سألته الثالثة فقال سألت عن ذلك رسول الله ﷺ فقال عليك بكثرة السجود فإنك لا تسجد لله سجدة إلا رفعك الله بها درجة وحط عنك بها خطيئة قال معدان ثم لقيت أبا الدرداء فسألته فقال لي مثل ما قال لي ثوبان