Several formulas for seeking forgiveness have been authentically reported from him (peace and blessings be upon him). Among them are his words: “I seek Allah’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance.” Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I have never seen anyone say, ‘I seek Allah’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance,’ more often than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).”1

Another is his saying: “My Lord, forgive me and accept my repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepter of repentance, the Most Merciful.” This was cited previously in the hadith of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father).

Another is what is established in the two Sahīhs: Abū Bakr said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), “Teach me a supplication that I may offer in my prayer.” He said: “Say: O Allah, I have greatly wronged myself, and none forgives sins but You. Grant me forgiveness from You and have mercy on me. Indeed, You are the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”2

Another is the hadith recorded in the two Sahīhs from Abū Mūsā al-Asharī (may Allah be pleased with him), who reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make this supplication: “O Allah, forgive my sin, my ignorance, my excesses in my affairs, and whatever You know better than I do. O Allah, forgive what I have done in earnest and in jest, inadvertently and deliberately—for all of that is true of me. O Allah, forgive my earlier and later sins, what I have concealed and what I have disclosed, and whatever You know better than I do. You are the One who brings forward and the One who holds back, and You have power over all things.”3

Another is what is established in Sahīh Muslim: among the last things he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say between the tashahhud and the closing salutation was: “O Allah, forgive my earlier and later sins, and what I have concealed