I was a man who, whenever I heard a hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Allah would benefit me from it as He willed. And whenever one of his companions narrated something to me, I would ask him to swear an oath, and if he swore, I would believe him.Abu Bakr narrated to me, and Abu Bakr spoke the truth. He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'There is no man who commits a sin, then rises and purifies himself, then prays, then seeks Allah's forgiveness, except that Allah forgives him.'" Then he recited this verse, "And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins" [Aal Imran 3:135], to the end of the verse.
حدثنا قتيبة حدثنا أبو عوانة عن عثمان بن المغيرة عن علي بن ربيعة عن أسماء بن الحكم الفزاري قال سمعت
إني كنت رجلا إذا سمعت من رسول الله ﷺ حديثا نفعني الله منه بما شاء أن ينفعني به وإذا حدثني رجل من أصحابه استحلفته فإذا حلف لي صدقته وإنه حدثني أبو بكر وصدق أبو بكر قال سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول ما من رجل يذنب ذنبا ثم يقوم فيتطهر ثم يصلي ثم يستغفر الله إلا غفر الله له ثم قرأ هذه الآية {والذين إذا فعلوا فاحشة أو ظلموا أنفسهم ذكروا الله فاستغفروا لذنوبهم} إلى آخر الآية
Its chain is hasan. Abu Dawud narrated it in Witr, chapter, On seeking forgiveness, hadith 1521, from the hadith of Abu Awana Waddah bin Abdullah, through the same route. Ibn Hibban graded it sahih, hadith 2454, and Ibn Adi and others graded it hasan, though it was faulted with a non-damaging flaw.On this subject, there is also a narration from Ibn Masud [to come, 3114], Abu Darda [Tabarani, Tuhfat Ahwazi 1/313], Anas [Bukhari, hadith 6823, and Muslim, hadith 2764], Abu Umama [Muslim, 2765], Muaz [to come, 3113], Wathila [Ibn Hibban, hadith 259, and Nasai in Al-Kubra, and Ahmad, 3/hadith 491], and Abu Yusr [to come, 3115].