It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that whoever repents one year before his death, his repentance will be accepted. Whoever repents one month before, his repentance will also be accepted. Even if he repents one day before, or one hour before, or before the death rattle, that repentance will also be accepted. A man asked, "Tell me, if a polytheist accepts Islam at that time, what is the ruling?" He replied, "I have narrated the hadith to you exactly as I heard the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) say it."