بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيْم
Once upon a time in the Arabian desert, there was a man on a journey through the scorching heat. He spent days feeding and providing water for his camel that was holding all his food and drink for the long journey ahead.
A few days into his journey, the man found some shade and decided to have a nap. He unmounted, tied the camel and fell asleep. When he woke up, to his horror, the camel was nowhere to be seen.
The man called out to the camel in panic, climbed up desert slopes but could not see anything. Hours in, he had lost hope and decided to go back to the shade. Out of pure exhaustion from the heat and no sustenance, he fell unconscious.
As he opened his eyes again a while later, there stood his camel. Jumping up in the great joy he yelled “O Allah! You are my servant and I am Your Lord.” He commits this mistake out of extreme delight. [from Sahih Muslim]
The prophet referred to this story when mentioning: “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant when he turns penitently towards Him than one of you would be on finding the lost camel.” [Muslim]
Allah loves those who repent. May Allah make us of those who continuously turn back to him.
Allah knows best.