A man sinned greatly against himself, and when death came to him he charged his sons, saying: ‘When I have died, burn me, then crush me and scatter [my ashes] into the sea, for, by Allah, if my Lord takes possession of me, He will punish me in a manner in which He has punished no one [else].’ So they did that to him. 

Then He [Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala] said to the Earth: ‘Produce what you have taken - and there he was!’ And He said to him: ‘What induced you to do what you did?’ 
He said: ‘Being afraid of You, O my Lord (or he said: ‘Being frightened of You’),’ and because of that He forgave him.

 
It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah)