say before his death, ‘Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.’”
She said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I notice that you frequently say: “Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.”’
He replied: ‘My Lord informed me that I would see a sign among my community. When I see it, I will frequently say: “Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.” I have now seen it:
“When Allah’s help comes and the victory”—the conquest of Mecca—“and you see people entering Allah’s religion in crowds, then glorify your Lord with praise and seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.”’”
His command—glory be to Him—that the Prophet glorify Him with praise and seek His forgiveness in these circumstances does not imply that this is not prescribed in other circumstances, or that others are not commanded to do so. Rather, it means that these circumstances are a reason for what he was commanded to do, even though he was also commanded to do it on other occasions. Likewise, a person is commanded to praise Allah and give thanks for His blessings, even though he is already commanded to give thanks for them; and he is commanded to repent of a particular sin, even though he is also commanded to repent of other sins.
Rather, this is a command that he conclude his deeds in this way. Others therefore have an even greater need for this than he did. A servant may also need this in other circumstances, just as he needs repentance. Thus, he needs repentance and seeking forgiveness at all times, as it is established in the Sahīh collection that “the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would seek forgiveness three times after prayer.”
Allah Most High says:
“And those who seek forgiveness before dawn.”
They spent the night in prayer, then sat before dawn seeking forgiveness. Allah concluded Sūrat al-Muzzammil, which speaks of night prayer, with His words: “And seek forgiveness