And in Sahīh Muslim and elsewhere, it is reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say in his opening supplication:

“O Allah, You are my Lord and I am Your servant. I have wronged myself and acknowledged my sin, so forgive me, for none forgives sins but You. Guide me to the best character, for none guides to it but You. Turn bad character away from me, for none turns it away from me but You.”

The father of humankind and his wife said:

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will surely be among the losers.”

Moses said:

“My Lord, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.”

The Man of the Fish, Jonah, said:

“There is no deity except You. Glory be to You! Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers.”

Bilqīs said:

“My Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to Allah, Lord of all worlds.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace (1).

Allah has also said concerning the people of the towns who were punished:

“We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.”

As for His words:

“Forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs,”

it has been said that sins here means minor sins, while excesses means major sins. The correct understanding, however, is that “sins” is a generic term, while “excess” means overstepping the bounds and going beyond moderation, as in the pairing of sinfulness and transgression. Thus, sins correspond to sinfulness