عَنْ أَبي هُرَيْرَةَ
رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ، عَنِ النَّبَيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: أَسْرَفَ رَجُلٌ عَلي نَفْسِهِ، فَلَمَّا حَضَرَهُ المَوْتُ أَوْصَى بَنِيه، فَقَالَ: إِذَا أَنَا مِتُّ فَأَحْرِقُوني، ثُمَّ اسْحَقُوني، ثُمَّ أَذْرُوني في البَحْرِ فَوَاللهِ لَئِنْ قَدَرَ عَلَيَّ رَبِّي لَيُعَذَّبَنِّي عَذَاباً، مَا عَذَّبَهُ أَحَداً، فَفَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ بِهِ.
فَقَالَ لِلْأَرْضِ: أَدِّي مَا أَخَذْتِ، فَإِذا هُوَ قَائِمٌ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَي مَا صَنَعْتَ؟ قَالَ: خَشْيَتُكَ يَا رَبِّ، أَوْ مَخَافَتُكَ. فَغَفَرَ لَهُ بِذَلِكَ
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: A man sinned greatly against himself, and when death came to him he charged his sons, saying: When I have died, burn me, then crush me and scatter [my ashes] into the sea, for, by Allah, if my Lord takes possession of me, He will punish me in a manner in which He has punished no one [else].
So they did that to him. Then He said to the earth: Produce what you have taken-and there he was! And He said to him: What induced you to do what you did? He said: Being afraid of You, O my Lord (or he said: Being frightened of You) and because of that He forgave him. It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, an-Nasai and Ibn Majah).