It is reported that ‘Abd Al-Rahmān b. Mahdī (Allāh have mercy on him) said, “If it were not for
the fact I hate that Allaah is disobeyed, I would have wished that no one
remain in this city except that he had spoken ill of me & backbitten me;
for what is nicer than a good deed a man finds in his records on the Day of
Resurrection without having done a thing or even having known?”
Abū
Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 4:45.