Kitāb al-Zuhd 1, record 245 of the digital edition

Translation

4.Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated from ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Bayyāʿ al-Sābirī,[1] from Ḥujr ibn Zāʾidah, from a man, from Abū Jaʿfar (a) to whom he said, “O son of the Messenger of Allah, verily I have a need.” So he said, “Meet me at Makkah.” [The narrator said,] “I said, ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah, verily I have a need.’ So he said, ‘Meet me at Minā.’ I said [again], ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah, verily I have a need.’ So he said, ‘Alright, tell me your needs.’ I said, ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah, verily I have committed a sin between myself and Allah which no one else is privy to, yet it weighs heavy on me, and I revere you too much to mention it to you.’ So he said, ‘When the Day of Judgment comes, and Allah takes account from His believing servant, He stops [and questions] him about all his sins, one by one, then He forgives him for them. No one comes to know of it, neither a close angel nor a chosen Prophet.’” ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm said, “I was informed by more than one person that he (a) said, ‘He conceals those of his sins that he dislikes to be questioned about.’ He [further] said, ‘And He says to his misdeeds, “Turn into good deeds!” That is [the interpretation of] the verse wherein Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says: They are the ones whose evil deeds Allah will change into good deeds, for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Merciful (Q25:70).’”

Translation: Shaykh Tahir Ridha Jaffer — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.