"I met Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "Tell me of an action that will benefit me or gain me admittance to Paradise.' He remained silent for a while, then he turned to me and said: 'You should prostrate, because I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "There is no one who prostrated once to Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, except that Allah will raise him one degree in status thereby, and erase one sin thereby." Ma'dan said: "Then I met Abu Ad-Darda' and asked him the same question I had asked Thawban." He said to me: "You should prostrate, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "There is no one who prostrates once to Allah (SWT), but Allah (SWT) will raise him one degree thereby and erase one sin thereby."  

لَقِيتُ ثَوْبَانَ مَوْلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقُلْتُ دُلَّنِي عَلَى عَمَلٍ يَنْفَعُنِي أَوْ يُدْخِلُنِي الْجَنَّةَ فَسَكَتَ عَنِّي مَلِيًّا ثُمَّ الْتَفَتَ إِلَىَّ فَقَالَ عَلَيْكَ بِالسُّجُودِ فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَسْجُدُ لِلَّهِ سَجْدَةً إِلاَّ رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ ﷻ بِهَا دَرَجَةً وَحَطَّ عَنْهُ بِهَا خَطِيئَةً قَالَ مَعْدَانُ ثُمَّ لَقِيتُ أَبَا الدَّرْدَاءِ فَسَأَلْتُهُ عَمَّا سَأَلْتُ عَنْهُ ثَوْبَانَ فَقَالَ لِي عَلَيْكَ بِالسُّجُودِ فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ مَا مِنْ عَبْدِ يَسْجُدُ لِلَّهِ سَجْدَةً إِلاَّ رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ بِهَا دَرَجَةً وَحَطَّ عَنْهُ بِهَا خَطِيئَةً  

“I met Thawban and said to him: ‘Tell me a Hadith that Allah may benefit me thereby.’ But he remained silent. Then I said the same and he remained silent. That happened three times. Then he said to me: ‘You should prostrate to Allah; for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “No one prostrates to Allah but Allah will raise him one degree in status thereby and will erase one of his sins.” Ma’dan said: “Then I met Abu Darda’ and asked him the same question, and he gave a similar answer.”  

فَسَكَتَ ثُمَّ عُدْتُ فَقُلْتُ مِثْلَهَا فَسَكَتَ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ فَقَالَ لِي عَلَيْكَ بِالسُّجُودِ لِلَّهِ فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَسْجُدُ لِلَّهِ سَجْدَةً إِلاَّ رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ بِهَا دَرَجَةً وَحَطَّ عَنْهُ بِهَا خَطِيئَةً قَالَ مَعْدَانُ ثُمَّ لَقِيتُ أَبَا الدَّرْدَاءِ فَسَأَلْتُهُ فَقَالَ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ  

I met Thauban, the freed slave. of Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and asked him to tell me about an act for which, if I do it, Allah will admit me to Paradise, or I asked about the act which was loved most by Allah. He gave no reply. I again asked and he gave no reply. I asked him for the third time, and he said: I asked Messenger of Allah ﷺ about that and he said: Make frequent prostrations before Allah, for you will not make one prostration without raising you a degree because of it, and removing a sin from you, because of it. Ma'dan said that then lie met Abu al-Darda' and when he asked him, he received a reply similar to that given by Thauban. (Using translation from Muslim 488)  

لَقِيتُ ثَوْبَانَ مَوْلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ فَقُلْتُ أَخْبِرْنِي بِعَمَلٍ أَعْمَلُهُ يُدْخِلُنِي اللهُ بِهِ الْجَنَّةَ أَوْ قَالَ قُلْتُ بِأَحَبِّ الْأَعْمَالِ إِلَى اللهِ فَسَكَتَ ثُمَّ سَأَلْتُهُ فَسَكَتَ ثُمَّ سَأَلْتُهُ الثَّالِثَةَ فَقَالَ سَأَلْتُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ عَلَيْكَ بِكَثْرَةِ السُّجُودِ؛ فَإِنَّكَ لَاتَسْجُدُ لِلَّهِ سَجْدَةً إِلَّا رَفَعَكَ اللهُ بِهَا دَرَجَةً وَحَطَّ عَنْكَ بِهَا خَطِيئَةً قَالَ مَعْدَانُ ثُمَّ لَقِيتُ أَبَا الدَّرْدَاءِ فَسَأَلْتُهُ فَقَالَ لِي مِثْلَ مَا قَالَ لِي ثَوْبَانُ