I have not seen anything that resembles the lesser sins (lamam) more closely than what Abu Hurairah reported from the Prophet ﷺ, "Allah has decreed for the son of Adam his share of fornication, which he will inevitably encounter. The fornication of the eye is the gaze, the fornication of the tongue is speech, the soul longs and desires, and the private parts either confirm all that or deny it."In another narration, "It has been decreed for the son of Adam his portion of fornication, which he will inevitably encounter. The two eyes commit fornication through the gaze, the two ears through listening, the tongue through speech, the hand through grasping, and the foot through walking towards it. The heart desires and longs, and the private parts either confirm all that or deny it."
ما رأيت شيئا أشبه باللمم مما قال أبو هريرة عن النبي ﷺ: إن الله كتب على ابن آدم حظه من الزنا، أدرك ذلك لا محالة، فزنا العين النظر، وزنا اللسان المنطق، والنفس تمنى وتشتهي، والفرج يصدق ذلك أو يكذبه. وفي رواية: كتب على ابن آدم نصيبه من الزنا، مدرك ذلك لا محالة، فالعينان زناهما النظر، والأذنان زناهما الاستماع، واللسان زناه الكلام، واليد زناها البطش، والرجل زناها الخطا، والقلب يهوى ويتمنى، ويصدق ذلك الفرج ويكذبه.
Bukhari narrated it in the chapter on divine decree (6612), and Muslim in the chapter on divine decree (2657), both from the hadith of Abdul-Razzaq, who said, Maamar narrated to us, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, from Abdullah bin Abbas, who related it. The second version, found in Muslim, comes through another route, from Suhayl bin Abu Salih, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, who related it as a saying of the Prophet.His statement, "I have not seen anything more resembling lamam" is an explanation of the meaning of Allah's saying, "Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only committing lamam. Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness" [Najm 53:32]. The meaning of the verse, and Allah knows best, is that those who avoid sins other than lamam will be forgiven for the lamam, just as in Allah's saying, "If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove your minor misdeeds from you" [Nisa 4:31]. So the meaning of the two verses is that avoiding the major sins wipes away the minor ones, which are the lamam. Ibn Abbas explained it with what appears in this hadith, namely glancing, touching, and the like, and he was correct in saying so. This is the sound view regarding the interpretation of lamam. Nawawi mentioned this.