أَللّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّى لآٰ إِلٰهَ اِلَّا أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِى وَ أَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَ أَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَ وَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ  أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُلَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَىَّ وَ أَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِى فَاغْفِرْلِى ذُنُوبِى فَإِنَّهُ لآ يَغْفِرُالذُّنُوبَ اِلَّا أَنْتَ بِرَحْمَتِكَ يَااَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ

 

Allaahumma-antarabbee, laa-ilaaha-illaa antakhalaqtanee-wa ana `abduka wa ana `alaa `ahdika wa wa`dika ma-astaṭa`tu-a`oodhu bika min-sharri maa-ṣana`tu aboo’u-lakabini`matika`alayya wa aboo’u-bi-dhambee faghfirlee- dhunoobee fa’innahu laa yaghfirul-dhunooba illaa-antabiraḥmatika yaa al-rḥama-al-raaḥimeena.

 

O Allah! You are my Rabb, there is no deity-god. Only You exist, You created me, I am Your servant and I am upon the Word I gave You as much as my strength allows me. (O Allah) I seek refuge in You from the evil of the mistakes I have made. I admit the blessing You have given me to the Uluhiyyah of your Absolute Essence. I confess my mistakes. Please forgive me. For grace and forgiveness belongs to You, o Arhamurrahimeen!

 

Muhammad (saw) says:

“Whoever reads this sayyid al-istighfar during the day with faith and comprehension awaiting its return only from Allah and dies before the night will go to Paradise… And whoever reads it at night and dies before the morning will also go to Paradise.”^[1]

Surely, if we choose not to make use of this opportunity, its consequence will only be ours to face…

 

أَللّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ لآٰ إِلٰهَ اِلَّا أَنْتَ رَبِّى وَ أَنَا عَبْدُكَ اٰمَنْتُ بِكَ مُخْلِصًا لَكَ فِى ديِنِى إِنِّى أَصْبَحْتُ {أَمْسَيْتُ} عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَ وَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ سَيِّءِ عَمَلِى وَأَسْتَغْفِرُكَ بِذُنُوبِ الَّتِى لَا يَغْفِرهَا اِلَّا أَنْتَ

 

Allaahumma laka l-ḥamdu laa ilaaha illaa anta rabbee wa ana `abduka aamantu bika mukhliṣan laka fee deenee innee aṣbaḥtu `alaa `ahdika wa wa`dika maa staṭa`tu atoobu ilayka min sayy’i `amalee wa astaghfiruka bidhunoobillatee laa yaghfiruhaa illaa anta.

 

“By Allah and by the qualities of Allah inherent within me (B-illahi), whoever reads this istighfar three times in the morning and night will definitely go to Paradise.”

Note that the Rasul of Allah (saw) begins his words ‘by Allah,’ which is a solemn promise. This is why I shared this straight after the Sayyid al-istighfar. What can we possibly lose by reading this three times in the morning and night as opposed to what we can gain?

 

رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي ظُلْمًا كَبِيرًا وَلَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّاأَنْتَ

فَاغْفِرْ لِي مَغْفِرَةً مِنْ عِنْدِكَ وَارْحَمْنِي إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

 

Rabbi innee ẓalamtu nafsee ẓalman katheera-wa laa yaghfirul-dhunooba illaa anta faghfirlee maghfiratan-min `indaka warḥamnee innaka-antal-ghufoorul-raḥeem.^[2]

 

My Rabb, I have done great wrong to myself (I failed to live up to my essential reality) and there is none other than You who can forgive me. Forgive me with a forgiveness from Your Self (min indika), have mercy on me. Indeed, You are forgiving and Rahim.

 

Hadhrat Abu Bakr (ra) asked the Rasul of Allah (saw): “O Rasul of Allah, what shall I read before I end my salat?” The Rasul of Allah (saw) told Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and to read this prayer in his salat before giving salam. What could the subtlety be in this recommendation of the Rasul of Allah (saw) who says, “If Abu Bakr’s faith was put into one pan of a scale and the faith of all believers was put into the other pan, Abu Bakr’s faith would weigh heavier”?

The key lies in the expression ‘from Your Self (min indika)’…

The word ‘ind’ or ‘indAllah’ points to the Unity of Existence in Sufism and means ‘from Allah; the forces that are revealed through dimensional emergence to consciousness from the Names of Allah that comprise one’s essence.’

There is an external aspect, an internal aspect and the ladun… The word ladun is a reference to the potential of the Names comprising one’s essence, it points to the power of Allah that manifests from that person’s essence… The secret of power manifesting in the system of wisdom!

The ‘world’ is the abode of wisdom. Everything is formed with a reason, a cause. These rules of wisdom and worldly laws of physics do not apply in the abode of the Hereafter.

The muqarriboon observe the secrets of power with the blessing of ‘ladun’ given to them as a favor while in the world.

To request forgiveness from Allah means to request that the flaws resulting from one’s ego are covered and that the nur (light of knowledge) pertaining to the reality is disclosed from one’s self.

 

أَللّهُمَّ اغْفِرْلِى خَطِﻴﺌَتِى وَجَهْلِى وَإِسْرَافِى فِى أَمْرِى وَمَا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنِّى أَللّهُمَّ اغْفِرْلِى هَزْلِى وَجِدِّى وَخَطَئِ وَعَمْدِى وَكُلُّ ذَالِكَ عِنْدِى

 

Allaahumma-ghfirlee khaṭee’atee wa jahlee wa israfee fee amree wa maa anta a`lamu bihi minnee Allaahumma ighfirlee hazalee wa jiddee wa khaṭa’i wa `amdee wa kullu dhaalika `indee.^[3]

 

O Allah, forgive my mistakes, my ignorance, my transgressions and all my flaws of which You are best aware. O Allah, forgive me for what I’ve done consciously, unconsciously, seriously, unknowingly or deliberately. I admit all of these are present within me!

 

Abu Musa al-Ashari (ra) narrates this is the way the Rasul of Allah (saw) used to ask for forgiveness.

Why did the Rasul of Allah (saw) continually ask for forgiveness when he was told in the Quran (48:2) “That Allah may forgive (cover/conceal) your past and (in spite of the conquest – fath) future misdeeds (the veils resulting from corporeality) and complete His favor upon you...”

Perhaps we should contemplate this...

Let us put the more profound aspects of the matter aside and at least realize that our behavior directly contradicts our vicegerency quality and we are doing wrong to ourselves by not living up to our essential reality. Let us be mindful of the fact we can only attain the infinite beauties of the eternal abode of the Hereafter through the practices we do here in this world.

So, instead of wastefully using our brain on things we are indefinitely going to leave behind and never even remember, let us turn to our essence and become aware of our inadequacies.