I repented to Allah from a sin I committed and swore that I would not return to it, but after a period I returned to it. What is the ruling on my action?

Question:
I repented to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, from a sin I committed, and at that time I swore by the Great Allah and the Great Qur'an that I would not return to it again. But, Shaykh, after a period I returned to the same sin, and at that time I resolved to repent to Allah and not to do it again. What is the ruling on my action? May Allah reward you with good. And what is the ruling on the incident that occurred? Will Allah accept my repentance after the negligence I mentioned? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions. And to proceed: Repentance is required of the Muslim; Allah the Exalted has commanded it, saying: He, the Exalted and Majestic, said: It is open, so Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, loves for His servants to repent to Him from their evil deeds, and He rejoices in their repentance, as in the hadith: He shaded his camel, and his food and drink were on it, then he slept in the shade of a tree. When he had lost hope of it, and while he was thus, he found it standing over his head, so he took hold of its bridle and said, "O Allah, You are my slave and I am your Lord." He erred out of great joy. So Allah, Glorious and Exalted, is more joyful with the repentance of His servant than this man who found his camel after he had lost hope of it and was on the verge of destruction. This is from the favor of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, and His love that He forgives the sins of His servants and admits them into His Paradise, for He, the Exalted and Majestic, is not pleased for His servants to disbelieve, nor does He love for them to enter the Fire. And His joy in their repentance is not out of any need of His, the Exalted and Majestic, for them, but out of their need for repentance, for repentance obligates for them the mercy of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. Otherwise, Allah, Glorious and Exalted, is free of need of them, of their deeds, and of their repentance. Even if all people were to disbelieve, that would not harm Allah in any way, nor would it diminish His dominion. But His joy in the repentance of His servant is that He has mercy on His servant and is gentle with His servant, and the benefit in that returns to the servant. And Allah has commanded hastening to repentance and not delaying it: As for what the questioner mentioned, that he committed a sin and then repented from it, and swore by Allah and by the Book of Allah that he would not return to it, but then he fell into it again, what is required of him? It is obligatory for him to repent, and to repeat the repentance; whenever he sins, he repents, and he does not despair of the mercy of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. For Allah the Exalted says: Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. So it is obligatory for him to repent to Allah whenever he commits a sin, with a valid repentance.
As for the oath he swore and then broke, he expiates for it by feeding ten poor people, for each poor person half a sa' of food, or clothing ten poor people, for each poor person a garment, or freeing a slave. If he is not able, then he fasts three days. This is what is obligatory for him. And we advise him not to swear; repentance is sufficient without an oath. If he repents to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, that is sufficient without swearing along with the repentance. So he should not repeat this again; he should not swear along with the repentance, but rather the repentance is sufficient, and he should be sincere in his repentance. Yes. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.