How did a man who killed 100 people get forgiven? — credits

As the Prophet ﷺ told it: a man who had killed a hundred people set out to repent, died on the road, was found nearer the good land by one span, and was forgiven. A paper-collage retelling from Sahih al-Bukhari 3470 and Sahih Muslim 2766. A hand-made-style paper-collage animation, rendered live in your browser with plain JavaScript and canvas.

Sources for the story

Sahih al-Bukhari 3470, narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: the man who killed ninety-nine, the monk, the hundredth; he died on the way and turned his chest towards the land; Allah commanded one land to draw near and the other to draw away; he was found nearer by a span, "so he was forgiven" (فَغُفِرَ لَهُ).
Sahih Muslim 2766a: he asked for the most learned person; the monk said no and was killed, completing a hundred; the scholar said "Yes, and who can stand between him and repentance?" and sent him to a land where people worship Allah; the angels of mercy and of punishment disputed ("He came repenting, turning with his heart to Allah" / "He never did any good at all").
Sahih Muslim 2766b: "no repentance for you"; he crawled on his chest; nearer the righteous town by a span.
Qur'an 5:32: "whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely", decreed for the Children of Israel (paraphrased in the hook as "one innocent soul").
Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari (on Bukhari 3470), via Qaf: the meaning of نَاءَ بِصَدْرِهِ (he leaned forward on his chest) and that the story is from the nations before Islam.
Wording note: the hadiths say "he was forgiven" and "the angels of mercy took him"; entering Paradise is a scholars' inference, so the reel says "forgiven".

Out of respect, the Prophet ﷺ is never depicted, angels are never shown (their part is told only in text), and people are shown only from behind.

Made with

Narration: Google Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS (voice “Algieba”), directed and edited for this film.
Illustrations: Google Gemini 3.1 Flash Image (backgrounds) and OpenAI GPT Image 2.5 (cut-outs), art-directed and reviewed frame by frame.
Typefaces (SIL Open Font License): Caveat Brush, Caveat, Patrick Hand, Aref Ruqaa.
Animation engine, sound design and mix: written for this series.

Sound

No music is used. All sound effects are CC0 unless noted.

amb_open_road_wind — EXT Blustery quiet 1.wav (Freesound) by deleted_user_2104797, CC0 1.0. Edits: source 4.0-40.0 s; highpass=f=70:poles=2; exposed blustery wind, no birds or people (bare hill road); 24 s seamless loop, -24 LUFS; 48k/16-bit
amb_quiet_room_day — #837996 "windy roomtone ile callot" by bruno.auzet, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 190.0-216.0 s; HPF 40 Hz, LPF 14 kHz; 24 s seamless loop (2 s crossfade), -26 LUFS
amb_room_tone_studio — #744447 "Soft Room Tone" by callmethefoo, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 10.0-36.2 s (cabin interior room tone); HPF 40 Hz; 24 s seamless loop (2 s crossfade), -26 LUFS
sfx_blind_unroll — #532775 "roller shade up.mp3" by twinpix, CC0 1.0. Edits: full 0.00-1.05 s; HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_card_fold — #364740 "open-cardboard-box-compartment.wav" by newagesoup, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.12-0.95 s (quick cardboard flap fold); HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_card_thud — #824385 "Softcover book hitting table" by nyxlitten, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 3.80-4.25 s; HPF 60 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_cloth_press — #854340 "smoothing apron - rustling fabric - handling canvas" by ponysparkleworld, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 8.97-9.50 s; HPF 60 Hz, LPF 18 kHz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_cloth_swish_1 — #391448 "Shirt Whoosh 1.wav" by saturdaysoundguy, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 6.70-7.40 s; HPF 80 Hz,FFT denoise 10 dB (floor -72); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_dream_shimmer_short — synthesized for this series: Same engine, 1.6 s dense sparkle sting.
sfx_flame_catch_soft — #326463 "Lighting A Match OWI.wav" by miekyj, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.42-1.85 s (flame flare only, strike removed); HPF 80 Hz; trim, 0.25 s fade-out, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_jm_steps_sandals — #637558 "footsteps walking flip flops sandals dirt.flac" by kyles, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 1.75-5.35 s (6 steps); HPF 60 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_page_turn_2 — #397548 "Page Turn 01" by LilMati, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-0.50 s; HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_rustle_1 — #181774 "rustling paper.wav" by keweldog, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.30-2.55 s; HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_rustle_2 — #181774 "rustling paper.wav" by keweldog, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 2.50-4.45 s; HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_rustle_3 — #449127 "Rustling Paper" by HarpyHarpHarp, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 1.45-2.15 s; HPF 80 Hz,FFT denoise 10 dB (floor -60); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_rustle_4 — #449127 "Rustling Paper" by HarpyHarpHarp, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 5.70-6.41 s; HPF 80 Hz,FFT denoise 10 dB (floor -60); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_rustle_5 — #211246 "PageRustle" by Tomoyo Ichijouji, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.10-1.90 s; HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_slide_1 — #464302 "PaperSlide.wav" by eyesonlegs, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-1.64 s; HPF 60 Hz,FFT denoise 10 dB (floor -55); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_slide_2 — #444431 "Sliding Envelope.wav" by MTJohnson, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.20-1.10 s; HPF 80 Hz; trim, fades, peak -3 dBFS
sfx_paper_tear_1 — #272028 "Ripping Paper" by aldenroth2, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-1.96 s; HPF 60 Hz,FFT denoise 8 dB (floor -60); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_tear_2 — #342541 "Fast Paper Rip" by sgrowe, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-0.89 s; HPF 60 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_paper_tear_3 — #170311 "Tearing paper" by ludde44, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.20-1.52 s; HPF 60 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_pen_tick_1 — #85703 "Pencil_scibble.aif" (via house `sfx_pencil_scribble_2.wav`) by tmkappelt, CC0 1.0. Edits: one tick cut from sfx_pencil_scribble_2 at 0.545-0.785 s; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_pencil_scribble_1 — #257518 "Scribble_short.wav" by waldram, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-1.27 s; HPF 150 Hz,FFT denoise 12 dB (floor -50); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_pencil_scribble_2 — #85703 "Pencil_scibble.aif" by tmkappelt, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-3.20 s; HPF 150 Hz,FFT denoise 12 dB (floor -62); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_tick — synthesized for this series: A short synthesized key click for typing in the Qaf app screen (made for this series). Non-instrumental.
sfx_tissue_slide_1 — #147281 "fh_Paper_Swipe_Surface2_Long_01.wav" by Frank1100, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.10-1.42 s; HPF 120 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_tissue_slide_2 — #147286 "fh_Paper_Swipe_Surface2_Mid_01.wav" by Frank1100, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.00-1.24 s; HPF 120 Hz,FFT denoise 8 dB (floor -55); trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_whoosh_2 — #683101 "quick woosh" by florianreichelt, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 0.05-2.05 s; no EQ; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS
sfx_whoosh_soft_synth — synthesized for this series: White noise through a time-varying log-Gaussian band-pass sweeping 300 Hz -> 2.2 kHz, swell envelope, slow L->R pan.
sfx_wood_creak_short — #130364 "Slow Creaking Stereo.wav" by harveyism, CC0 1.0. Edits: cut 12.15-13.40 s; pitched/slowed to 0.8x (about -4 semitones); HPF 60 Hz; trim, fades, peak -1 dBFS