A summary of a lengthy story that was narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
A young man of the Ansaar who was called Tha‘labah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan became Muslim, and he used to serve the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). He sent him on an errand, and he passed by the door of a man among the Ansaar, where he saw an Ansaari woman doing ghusl. He looked repeatedly at her, after which he became afraid that Revelation would come down to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), so he went out, fleeing, and came to a mountainous area between Makkah and Madinah, where he hid. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) missed him for forty days, and these were the days when they said his Lord had forsaken him and was displeased with him, then Jibreel (peace be upon him) came down to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: O Muhammad, your Lord conveys greetings of peace (salaam) to you, and says: The man from your ummah who has fled is in these mountains, seeking refuge with Me from My Fire. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “O ‘Umar! O Salmaan! Go and bring Tha‘labah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan to me.” They set out through the streets of Madinah and were met by one of the shepherds of Madinah whose name was Dhufaafah. ‘Umar said to him: O Dhufaafah, do you know anything about a young man in these mountains? Dhufaafah said to him: Perhaps you are looking for the one who is fleeing from Hell? ‘Umar said to him: How do you know that he is fleeing from Hell? He said: Because in the middle of the night he came out to us from these mountains with his hand on his head, saying: Would that You took my soul as You took other souls and my body as You took other bodies, and not expose me on the Day of Judgement! ‘Umar said: He is the one we are looking for. So Dhufaafah set out with them, and in the middle of the night he came out to them from those mountains, with his hand on his head, saying: Would that You took my soul as You took other souls and my body as You took other bodies, and not expose me on the Day of Judgement! ‘Umar went to him and embraced him and (Tha‘labah) said: I want to be safe from the Fire. ‘Umar said to him: I am ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. He said: O ‘Umar, does the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) know of my sin? He said: All I know is that he remembered you yesterday, and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wept. Tha‘labah said: O ‘Umar, do not let me enter upon him except when he is praying, and Bilaal is saying Qad qaamat as-salaah (Prayer is about to begin – i.e., the iqaamah or call immediately preceding the prayer). ‘Umar said: I shall do that. Then they brought him to Madinah and arrived when the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was praying Fajr. ‘Umar and Salmaan hastened to join the row (of worshippers), and no sooner did Tha‘labah hear the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), but he fell unconscious. When the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said the salaam (at the end of the prayer), he said: “O ‘Umar, O Salmaan, what happened to Tha‘labah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan?” They said: He is over there, O Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stood up and said: “O Tha‘labah!” He said: Here I am, O Messenger of Allah. He looked at him and said: “What kept you away from me?” He said: My sin, O Messenger of Allah. He said: “Shall I not tell you about a verse that will expiate sins and errors?” He said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: “Say: Allaahumma aatina fi’d-dunya hasanah wa fi’l-aakhirati hasanah wa qinna ‘adhaab an-naar (O Allah! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire) (cf. al-Baqarah 2:201).” He said: My sin is too great, O Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Rather the word of Allah is greater.” Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed him to go home. He fell sick for eight days, then Salmaan came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, do you want to visit Tha‘labah, because he is sick? The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Let us go to him.” When he entered upon him, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) took hold of his head and placed it in his lap, but he pulled his head away from the lap of the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to him: “Why did you pull your head away from my lap?” He said: Because it is full of sins. He said: “What do you feel?” He said: I feel something like the crawling of ants between my skin and my bones. He said: “What do you long for?” He said: The forgiveness of my Lord. Then Jibreel (peace be upon him) came down to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: Verily your Lord conveys greetings of salaam to you and says: If this slave of Mine were to meet Me with an earthful of sins, I would meet him with a similar measure of forgiveness. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Should I not tell him about that?” He said: Yes indeed. So the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told him about that, and he gave a shout then died. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave instructions that he should be washed and shrouded, and he offered the funeral prayer for him. Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) began walking on tiptoe and they said: O Messenger of Allah, why do we see you walking on tiptoe? He said: By the One Who sent me with the truth as a Prophet, I could not put my feet on the ground because of the many wings of the angels who came down to accompany his funeral procession.
source: islamqa.info
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