Sunan Ibn Majah 4247
سنن ابن ماجه#4247Sahihحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا شَبَابَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا وَرْقَاءُ، عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ : " إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَفْرَحُ بِتَوْبَةِ أَحَدِكُمْ مِنْهُ بِضَالَّتِهِ إِذَا وَجَدَهَا " .
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:“Allah rejoiced more over the repentance of anyone of you, then you rejoice over your lost animal when you find it.”
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
In-book reference: 37:148