So, my brother, hold fast to frequent istighfar. Keep repeating: “O Allah, forgive me; O Allah, have mercy on me; I seek Allah’s forgiveness and turn to Him,” and similar phrases. Perhaps you will coincide with a moment in which prayers are answered, and He will pardon you then…

Allah alone grants success.

1875 – Shaddad ibn Aws narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The supreme formula of seeking forgiveness is for a servant to say:

‘Allahumma anta rabbī, lā ilāha illā anta. Khalaqtanī wa-anā ʿabduka, wa-anā ʿalā ʿahdika wa-waʿdika ma-staṭaʿt. Aʿūdhu bika min sharri mā ṣanaʿt. Abūʾu laka bi-niʿmatika ʿalayya, wa-abūʾu bi-dhanbī. Faghfir lī, fa-innahu lā yaghfiru al-dhunūba illā anta.’

Whoever recites it during the day with full certainty and dies before evening will be one of the people of Paradise; and whoever recites it at night with full certainty and dies before morning will be one of the people of Paradise.”

It is recorded by al-Bukhari. The word abūʾu begins with a bāʾ followed by a wāw and then a hamzah, all pronounced with ḍamma, and it means “I acknowledge and confess.”

1876 – Thawban reported: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ finished his prayer, he would seek Allah’s forgiveness three times and say, “Allahumma anta al-salām, wa-minka al-salām. Tabārakta yā dhā al-jalāli wa-al-ikrām.” It was asked of al-Awzāʿī, one of the narrators, “How was the seeking of forgiveness?” He replied, “He would say: ‘Astaghfirullāh, astaghfirullāh.’”

Narrated by Muslim.