1188—ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us. He said: ʿUthmān ibn Aḥmad narrated to us. He said: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib narrated to us. He said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Salamah al-Azdī informed us. He said: Yaḥyā ibn Kāmil al-Qurashī narrated to us. He said: Sufyān al-Thawrī informed me. He said: “I heard a Bedouin lying down at Arafat, saying:

‘My God, who is more deserving of error and falling short than I, when You created me weak? And who is more deserving of pardoning me than You? Your knowledge of me preceded all things, and Your decree concerning me encompasses all things. I obeyed You by Your permission, so the favour is Yours; and I disobeyed You with Your knowledge, so the proof is Yours. Thus, by the certainty of Your mercy, the failure of my proof, my need of You, and Your freedom from need of me, I ask You to forgive me and have mercy upon me.

My God, I did no good until You gave to me, and I committed no wrong until You decreed it for me. My God, through Your blessing, we have obeyed You in the matter most beloved to You: the testimony that there is no god but Allah. And we have not, through Your blessing, disobeyed You in the matter most hateful to You: associating partners with You. So forgive what lies between them.

My God, You are the most comforting Companion to Your close servants, and the nearest, through Your sufficiency, to those who place their trust in You. You behold them in their innermost thoughts and look upon their secrets. My secret is laid bare before You, O Allah ⦗724⦘, and I turn to You in anguish. When estrangement leaves me lonely, Your remembrance comforts me; and when worries overwhelm me, I seek refuge in You and Your protection, knowing that the reins of all affairs are in Your hand and that their origin proceeds from Your decree.’