Ibn Mas’ud RA reported: I visited the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he was suffering fever. I said, “You seem to be suffering greatly, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Yes, I suffer as much as two persons.” I said, “Is that because you have a double reward?” He replied that that was so and then said, “No Muslim is afflicted by a harm, be it the pricking of a thorn or something more (painful than that), but Allah thereby causes his sins to fall away just as a tree sheds its leaves”.
(Bukhari and Muslim)
