Abu Mūsa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to invoke Allah with this supplication: "O Lord, forgive me my sin, my ignorance, my excess in all of my affairs, and whatever You are better aware of than me. O Allah, forgive me my sins, my deliberate sins, my ignorant sins, my humorous sins, and all of this I have committed. O Allah, forgive what I have done and what I have left undone, what I have committed secretly and what I have committed openly; You are the Advancer and You are the Delayer, and You have absolute power over everything."
Authentic hadith - Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim

The following is among the comprehensive supplications of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): "O Lord, forgive me my sin" and my misdeed, and "my ignorant sins" and what I committed unknowingly. "My excess in all of my affairs", my negligence, and my transgression. "And whatever You are better aware of than me,"  You know it, O Allah, whereas I forgot it. "O Allah, forgive me my sins, my deliberate sins," and the sins I committed deliberately and knowingly. "My seriousness, my humor," and what was done by way of joking and what I committed in both cases. "And all this I have committed,"  as it collected the mentioned sins and defects. "O Allah, forgive what I have done" in the past "and what I have left undone" in the future. "What I have committed secretly" and stealthily, "and what I have committed openly" and publicly. "You are the Advancer and You are the Delayer."  You make whomever You will of Your creation proceed to Your mercy through Your guidance to what pleases You, and You delay whomever You will from this through forsaking him. None can bring forward what You have delayed, and none can delay what You have put forward. "And You have absolute power over everything", possessing the absolute ability and the perfect will, You do whatever You will.

  1. The merit of this supplication, and that we should recite it following the Prophet's example.
  2. Extravagance is prohibited and the extravagant will be subject to punishment.
  3. Allah Almighty knows man better than himself; hence, one should entrust his affairs to Allah, as he could err unknowingly.
  4. Man could be held accountable for his joking just as he is held accountable for his seriousness, so he should be cautious when joking.
  5. Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalāni said: I have not found in any of its chains of transmission the place of reciting this supplication, and most of its last part have occurred... He used to say it during the night prayer. It is also mentioned that he used to say it at the end of the prayer. However, there are different narrations about whether he used to say it before or after Taslīm (salutation of peace ending the prayer). This is the cited wording.
  6. Does the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) err to seek forgiveness? It is said that he said this out of humility and self-suppression, or he considered missing perfection and not doing what is preferable as sins, or he was referring to what was committed out of forgetfulness or before being a prophet. It is also said: that seeking forgiveness is a form of worship that must be performed, not for the sake of forgiveness but as a form of worship. It is said as well: This is to warn and teach his Ummah so as not to feel secure and stop seeking forgiveness.

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