utterance of the Prophet himself ﷺ, and it was not delivered as a clarification of some general text that would carry its ruling.

2 – The meaning of “ghufrānaka” is: “I ask You for Your forgiveness for my sins and burdens.” The word appears in the accusative because it is the object of an omitted verb.

3 – The relevance of this supplication is that when a person’s body feels lighter after relieving himself and he is freed from the physical harm that weighed him down, he recalls the sins that burden his heart, trouble his soul, and whose consequences he fears. He therefore asks Allah that, just as He has granted him relief from that bodily harm, He might likewise grant him relief from the weight of his sins, so that he becomes light both physically and spiritually.

4 – A comparable case is the remembrance said after ablution: “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah …,” for when the one performing wuduʾ has purified his outward limbs, he asks Allah to purify his inner self through this testimony.

5 – Other supplications traced back to the Prophet have been reported, but every one of their chains is weak. Abū Ḥātim remarked, “The most authentic report in this chapter is the hadith of ʿĀʾishah.”