‘I heard Abā ʿAbdillāh (a) say, “There is no believing servant who commits a sin but that Allah delays for him [the recording of that sin] for seven hours of the day. If he repents [in that time], nothing is recorded against him but if he fails to do so, one evil deed is recorded against him.” So ʿAbbād al-Baṣrī came to him and said, “We have been informed that you said there is no servant who commits a sin but that Allah delays [its recording] for him for seven hours of the day?” So he (a) replied, “That is not how I said it. Rather, I said: there is no believing servant who commits a sin but that Allah delays [its recording] for him for seven hours of his day – that is how I said it.”’”[1]