Abu Sirma reported that when the time of the death of Abu Ayyub Ansari drew near, he said:I used to conceal from you a thing which I heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Had you not committed sins, Allah would have brought into existence a creation that would have committed sin (and Allah) would have forgiven them

English translation · Sahih Muslim