71 – The Third Ḥadīth
Abu Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say:
“O Allah, I ask You for hudā (guidance), tuqā (piety), ʿafāf (chastity), and ghinā (self-sufficiency).”
Collected by Muslim.

Explanation
Among the narrations the author—may Allah have mercy on him—cites in the chapter on taqwā (God-fearingness) is this ḥadīth, in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would supplicate Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with the words: “O Allah, I ask You for hudā, tuqā, ʿafāf, and ghinā.”

Here, hudā means knowledge. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, needed knowledge just like other people, for Allah said to him: “Do not rush with the Qur’an before its revelation is completed for you, and say, ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge’” (Ṭā Hā 20:114); and He said: “He has taught you what you did not know, and the favor of Allah upon you is immense” (al-Nisāʾ 4:113). Thus the Prophet required knowledge and therefore asked Allah for hudā.

When hudā is mentioned by itself it covers both knowledge and the enablement to follow the truth, but when it is joined to another word that already conveys enablement, its meaning is restricted to knowledge. This is because, as a rule in Arabic, conjunction implies distinction: hudā then has one meaning, and the term that follows—which denotes acting upon the truth—has another.

As for his words “and tuqā,” the tuqā meant here is the taqwā of Allah, Exalted is He, so he asked—