and in the words of Abraham and Ishmael:

“Our Lord, accept from us. Indeed, You alone are the All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Our Lord, make us both submissive to You and from our descendants a nation submissive to You. Show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You alone are the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.”

[Surah al-Baqara: 127–128]

Moses said:

“You are our Guardian, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the best of those who forgive. Ordain for us good in this world and in the Hereafter. Indeed, we have turned to You.”

[Surah al-Aʿrāf: 155–156]

And his words:

“My Lord, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.” Thus He forgave him. Indeed, He alone is the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

[Surah al-Qasas: 16]

And his words:

“I repent to You, and I am the first of the believers.”

[Surah al-Aʿrāf: 143]

The same applies to what He mentioned in the accounts of David, Solomon, and others.

As for what has been transmitted from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in this regard, it is abundant and well known. His Companions were the best of the ummah’s generations. Of all generations, they knew Allah best and feared Him most, and they were the most steadfast of people in repentance, both during his lifetime and after his death.

Therefore, anyone who mentions what they were censured for but fails to mention the repentance through which Allah raised their ranks has wronged them. This includes what occurred among some of them on the day of al-Hudaybiyya: they repented of it, even though their intention had been good. The same applies to the incident of Hātib [ibn Abī Baltaʿa], from which he repented (1). Indeed, even one of them who committed adultery would repent with such repentance that, had a collector of unlawful levies repented likewise, he would have been forgiven. Thus Māʿiz ibn Mālik repented and came [to] (2) the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—until