Sheikh Bahaai (may the mercy (of God) be upon him) says:
Once it so happened that in a prominent gathering, in my absence, I became the topic of conversation. I came to know that one of those present in the gathering, although claiming to be my friend was not truthful in his claim, began backbiting about and speaking ill of me; fully heedless of the verse in which God says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَحِيمٌ
“…nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it.”5
Later when he came to know that I had become aware of his act, he wrote me a lengthy letter in which he expressed his repentance over the deed and sought forgiveness from me.
Replying to his letter, I wrote:
May God reward you for the gift that you sent for me! This is because your gift shall cause the scale of my good deeds to become heavier on the Day of Judgment!
It has been narrated that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said: “On the Day of Judgment, a person shall be brought forth for the reckoning of his deeds; his good deeds shall be placed in one pan of the balance while his evil deeds would be placed in the other and it would be observed that the pan of evil deeds was heavier than that of the good deeds. At this juncture, a sheet of paper would be placed upon his good deeds as a result of which, the pan containing his good deeds would become heavier than the one containing his sins.
Astonished, the person would ask: ‘O’ Lord! All the good deeds that I possessed had been placed in the pan, so what is this sheet of paper?’ I have never performed this good act.
`He would be informed: ‘This is in exchange for those evils that were spoken about you but which you did not possess’.”
(Sheikh Bahaai continues in his letter): This tradition compels me to thank you for the gift that you have presented to me.
Although, had you acted in this manner or even worse, in front of me, let me assure you that you would not have witnessed any response from me except forgiveness, pardon, friendship and faithfulness. The years of life that remain are much too precious to waste in attempting to punish individuals for their deeds; rather, it ought to be spent in reflecting over that which has been lost and attempting to make amends for that which has passed.( Pand-e-Taareekh, vol. 5, pg. 160; Kashkool, vol. 1, pg. 196 )