Thus, the finest reward is Paradise, and the additional reward is looking upon the Face of Allah. This is how the Prophet ﷺ explained it (1).

As for the tasbih of prostration, it too is explained by the Prophet’s ﷺ saying, “Use it in your prostration” (2), when Allah’s saying was revealed:

“Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High.” [al-Aʿlā]

Seeking forgiveness once, …

His statement, “and seeking forgiveness once”: this is the sixth of the obligatory elements of the prayer—that the worshipper should seek forgiveness once. The author, may Allah have mercy on him, did not explain when this supplication is to be made, but he previously mentioned in his description of the prayer that saying, “My Lord, forgive me,” is to be said between the two prostrations (3).

Forgiveness means concealing the sin and pardoning it. It is derived from the helmet worn on the head in battle to ward off arrows. Such a helmet provides both concealment and protection. Thus, forgiveness is not merely concealing sins, nor is it simply pardoning them; rather, it is concealment together with pardon. Hence, when Allah is alone with His servant on the Day of Resurrection and calls him to account for his sins, He says: “I concealed them for you in this world, and today I forgive them for you” (4).

He did not explain the wording by which forgiveness is to be sought: whether one says, “O Allah