63 – Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Shaybānī narrated to us; he said: Abū Bilāl al-Ashʿarī narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Abān, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurashī, from ⦗66⦘ al-Ḥārith al-ʿUklī, that a man once came to al-Hasan ibn ʿAlī seeking his help with his father in a certain matter. Al-Hasan said to him, “The Commander of the Believers has withdrawn to a room; whenever a pressing concern befalls him he enters it alone.”
The man asked, “Bring me near the door so I may hear what the Commander of the Believers is saying.” I approached, and I heard him supplicating:
“O Kāf-Hā-Yā-ʿAyn-Ṣād! O Light, O Most Holy, O Ever-Living, O Allah, O All-Merciful”—he repeated this three times—
“forgive me the sins that unleash punishment; forgive me the sins that revoke blessings; forgive me the sins that bequeath remorse; forgive me the sins that tear away protection; forgive me the sins that withhold allotted portions; forgive me the sins that bring down calamity; forgive me the sins that hasten extinction; forgive me the sins that strengthen enemies; forgive me the sins that sever hope; forgive me the sins that repel supplication; forgive me the sins that hold back the rain of heaven; forgive me the sins that darken the air; forgive me the sins that strip away the covering.”