Sayyid al-Istighfār and other du‘ās for seeking forgiveness

Asking Allah for forgiveness, istighfār, can be a single short sentence or a longer du‘ā that names what one has done and turns back to Him. This page brings together five du‘ās of forgiveness from the Sabīl library and two verses of the Qur’ān on the subject, and explains where each one belongs: through the day, inside the prayer, after it. Every du‘ā is shown with its Arabic, a transliteration, its meaning and the source the library gives; the narrations behind them are listed by number at the end, so you can open each one yourself. Under some verses the page also shows the notes of that edition; they are the edition’s words, not this page’s, and this page has not checked them.

What the Qur’ān says about asking forgiveness

The Qur’ān describes the people who seek forgiveness: when they do something shameful or wrong themselves, they remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins, and they do not knowingly keep on with what they did.

And it speaks to those who have transgressed against themselves, telling them not to despair of Allah’s mercy.

The note the edition gives with 39:53 says that the verse is for those who repent and correct themselves, however great the sins, and that the one sin not forgiven is to die in disbelief or associating others with Allah.

Sayyid al-Istighfār

The du‘ā the library heads “Sayyid al-Istighfār” is in the Du‘ā Compilation. In it a person affirms that Allah is their Lord and Creator, says they hold to His covenant as far as they can, seeks refuge from the evil they have done, acknowledges both His favour and their own sin, and asks to be forgiven, because none forgives sins but Him.

The library cites it to al-Bukhārī with the grade ṣaḥīḥ, and its source line sums up the virtue that the narration gives for saying it with firm faith by day and by night. The same du‘ā is on the poster Adhkār after Prayer, under “Sayyid al-istighfār”, and on the card “Morning & evening” of the Pocket Companion. The printed card sets it shorter, and that is an open question in the library’s own checking; on screen the card shows the whole text.

The short words of istighfār

The shortest form in the library is one sentence: asking Allah’s forgiveness and turning to Him in repentance. The library cites it to al-Bukhārī with the grade ṣaḥīḥ, and its source line says that the Prophet ﷺ said it more than seventy times a day.

The second du‘ā on that card is a different request, for what is lawful to be enough and for freedom from needing anyone but Allah. The library cites it to at-Tirmidhī with the grade ḥasan, and its source line ties it to debt: in the narration, ʿAlī teaches it to a man who could not pay what he owed for his freedom, as words the Prophet ﷺ taught him, and says that if he had a debt like a mountain, Allah would settle it for him. The poster Adhkār after Prayer has the same words of istighfār under “Seeking forgiveness”; the library’s own checking has a question open about that entry’s citation.

Inside the prayer: the du‘ā of Abū Bakr

Abū Bakr asked the Prophet ﷺ for a du‘ā to say in his prayer, and was taught this one, in which a person says they have wronged themselves greatly and asks for forgiveness and mercy from Allah. The library cites it to al-Bukhārī and Muslim with the grade ṣaḥīḥ.

On the sheet Adhkār of the Prayers it stands in the part headed “before the salām”. The sheet’s note on that part, at the end of the entry “Within each rak‘ah”, sets out the final sitting: the tashahhud, the ṣalawāt, then two du‘ās, “which belong inside the prayer, not after it”. This du‘ā is the second of the two, lettered B. The last line shown with it, “Part 3 · after every farḍ”, is the heading of the sheet’s next part and not a note on this du‘ā. The Pocket Companion has it on its card “Before the salām”, where the print sets it shorter.

After the prayer: istighfār three times

The sheet’s third part, after every obligatory prayer, opens with istighfār: one phrase, marked to be said three times, which the library cites to Muslim with the grade ṣaḥīḥ. The Pocket Companion has it first on its card “After the salām · 1–4”.

From the Qur’ān: the words of Ādam

Among the du‘ās from the Qur’ān in the Du‘ā Compilation is the one its source line calls the words of Ādam, from 7:23: an admission of wrong done to oneself, and a request for forgiveness and mercy.

The same card has the du‘ā of Mūsā from 20:25–28, which asks for something else: an open heart and an easy tongue before a hard conversation. The verse of Ādam’s du‘ā, in the Qur’ān’s text:

Ādam’s du‘ā and the du‘ā of Abū Bakr both open by admitting a wrong done to oneself, and then ask for forgiveness and mercy.

References

Verses of the Qur’ān, by sūrah and verse, shown above: 3:135; 7:23; 39:53. Named in the prose: 20:25–28.

Narrations, by collection and number as sunnah.com numbers them: al-Bukhārī by the numbering of Fatḥ al-Bārī; Muslim by Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī’s numbers, with the letter sunnah.com adds where it divides one; al-Tirmidhī by sunnah.com’s numbering of the Jāmiʿ. The library names the collection under each du‘ā; the number is the narration it cites.

• Sayyid al-Istighfār: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6306.
• The short words of istighfār, more than seventy times a day: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6307.
• The du‘ā taught to the man in debt: Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 3563.
• The du‘ā of Abū Bakr: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 834; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2705a.
• Istighfār three times after the prayer: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 591.

From the Sabīl library: the Du‘ā Compilation, cards 04, 09 and 10; Adhkār of the Prayers, the entries “Within each rak‘ah”, “Du‘ā of Abū Bakr” and “Istighfār”; Adhkār after Prayer and the Pocket Companion, linked, not quoted.

Where to go next

• Morning & evening shows the entries of the Adhkār after Prayer poster, in order, Sayyid al-Istighfār among them.
• Around the prayer and After the prayer follow the Adhkār of the Prayers sheet, from the adhān to the salām and from the salām onward. The entry “Within each rak‘ah” includes a short request for forgiveness between the two prostrations.
• The tasbīḥ counter is a plain counter for after the prayer and through the day.
• Ramaḍān has, on its card “The last ten”, a du‘ā labelled “Laylat al-Qadr” that asks for pardon; the library cites it to at-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah with the grade ṣaḥīḥ.