; You are my Lord, and I am Your servant. I have wronged myself and acknowledged my sin, so forgive me all my sins, for none forgives sins but You.”

It is also related in the Sahih that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say:

“O Allah, forgive me all my sins, small and great, public and secret, first and last.”

It is related in both Sahih collections that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say:

“O Allah, forgive me my sins, my ignorance, my excesses in my affairs, and whatever You know better than I do. O Allah, forgive me what I have done in jest and in earnest, unintentionally and deliberately—all of these are found in me. O Allah, forgive me what I have done before and what I have done later, what I have concealed and what I have done openly, my excesses, and whatever You know better than I do. You are the One who brings forward and the One who puts back. There is no god but You.”

There are many such examples in the Quran and Sunnah. Allah Most High has said:

“And seek forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women.”

The believers’ repentance and seeking forgiveness are among their greatest good deeds, their highest acts of obedience, and their noblest acts of worship, through which they attain the greatest reward and are spared whatever punishment these acts avert.

If someone asks, “What need do the prophets have of worship and obedience?” he is ignorant, for they attained what they attained only through their worship and obedience. How, then, can it be said that they have no need of these? Repentance and seeking forgiveness are the finest of their acts of worship and obedience.

And if someone says, “But repentance can only be for a sin, and the same applies to seeking forgiveness,”