254 – On the authority of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him: “He said to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ‘Teach me a supplication that I may invoke in my prayer.’ He replied, ‘Say:
“O Allah, I have wronged myself with much wrongdoing, and none forgives sins except You. So forgive me with a forgiveness from Yourself, and have mercy on me, for You alone are the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.”’ Agreed upon. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• adʿū bihi (that I may invoke with it): a verbal clause functioning as an adjective for “supplication,” which is in the accusative as the second direct object of “teach me.”
• fī ṣalātī (in my prayer): although the wording appears to cover the whole prayer, what is intended is the sitting posture after the tashahhud and before the salām.
• ẓulman kathīran (much wrongdoing): transmitted with thāʾ; it is also narrated with bāʾ, as found in Muslim.
• “wa-lā yaghfiru al-dhunūba illā Anta” (and none forgives sins except You): an intervening clause placed between “I have wronged myself greatly” and “so forgive me with a forgiveness from You.” It may also be read as a circumstantial clause.
• maghfirah (forgiveness): points to an even higher degree of exaltation, for what comes from Him surpasses all description.
• innaka anta: a detached pronoun used for emphasis, exclusivity, and to differentiate between predicate and adjective. One can say “Zaydun al-fāḍil,” where al-fāḍil may be predicate or adjective, but “Zayd huwa al-fāḍil” leaves only the predicate. This pronoun holds no syntactic position, hence the verse “in kānū hum al-ghālibīn” (26:40) is not altered.
• al-Ghafūr al-Raḥīm (the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful): a paired construction corresponding, in order, to the earlier plea “forgive me and have mercy on me.”