Supplication for Forgiveness

In the Name of God I begin, with all my respect,And all praise belongs to God, for my strength and maturity.

I seek the forgiveness of God, our Lord and Creator,For all mankind and for the evils of my [soul’s] turmoil.

I seek the forgiveness of God, motivator of the heavenly spheres in the darkness, For our failure to thank Him enough for His bounty.

I seek the forgiveness of God, the Savior of one who seeks His aid,Whenever he suffers misfortune or calamity.

I seek the forgiveness of God, Forgiver of the sins of one Who comes to Him broken, humiliated, and full of remorse.

I seek the forgiveness of God, Concealer of the faults of The morally deficient, and their Savior from adversity.

I seek the forgiveness of God for my secret thoughts and overt acts,For the fickleness of my heart and for the smile upon my lips.

I seek the forgiveness of God for my speech and my behavior,For my evil character, type, and nature.

I seek the forgiveness of God for my words and deeds,For my vain strivings, and the exhaustion of my abilities.

I seek the forgiveness of God for my ignorance and transgressions,For the greatest of my conscious sins, and the minor ones I have committed.

I seek the forgiveness of God for what my hand has wrought,For my errors and [the sins] toward which I was inclined.

I seek the forgiveness of God for that which my hand did not earn,And for that which I earned upon attaining adulthood.

I seek the forgiveness of God for saying ‘I’ and ‘with me’,[For saying] ‘belonging to me’ and ‘mine’, and for my suspicions and my [limited] understanding.

I seek the forgiveness of God for that which I did not know,For that which I knew, and for that which I wrote by pen.

I seek the forgiveness of God for my sleep, my lethargy,And my wakefulness, and for that which has maintained me [in life].

I seek the forgiveness of God during the day, its night,And, its morrow, before it is created from nothingness.

I seek the forgiveness of God for that which occurred during my youth,And for my disagreements with the aged and mature.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as I have feared what He has bestowed,And [as often as] the clouds have rained on the plains and hills.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of pilgrims, goingToward lands characterized by purity and sanctity.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the breaking of dawn, and as oftenAs the doves coo their songs in the branches.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of letters [in the Qur’an] and multiplicity ofQur’anic verses and aphorisms recited during invocation.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of riding animals,Worlds beyond the horizons, and landmarks in the earth.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of plants andSheep on the land and [the amount of] bounty in the sea.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of heavenly bodiesEncompassed by knowledge, and for everything that is apparent and hidden.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of [grains of] sand,And the [amount of] rain that falls continuously on the earth.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of created things—Of human beings and jinn, or Arabs and non-Arabs.

I seek the forgiveness of God, as often as the number of thoughts inThe breasts of those endowed with trust, authority, and wisdom.

I seek the forgiveness of God—all majesty be to God, our Creator,Creator of mankind and the One who brought us forth from nothingness.

I seek the forgiveness of God—all majesty be to God, Who provided for usPrior to physical existence, and Who apportions all the shares [of worldly destiny].

I seek the forgiveness of God, Whose bounties are without number,The All-Encompassing, the Most Excellent, [the One] noted for generosity.

I seek the forgiveness of God—all majesty be to God, Who gathers us in [at death],The annihilator of centuries, and annihilator of all nations.

I seek the forgiveness of God—all majesty be to God, Who resurrects usAfter death, and Who gives life to decaying bones.

I seek the forgiveness of God, innumerable times,As often as the number of known species and breaths of life.

I seek the forgiveness of God—on Him be praises without number,[For] He causes Himself to be praised pre-eternally.

I seek the forgiveness of God, the Forgiver of sins Who, wheneverThe slave disobeys, forgives him with indulgence and generosity.

So forgive me the greatest of my transgressions, and[On] the Day of Judgment, when my feet are about to stumble.

Then may blessings be on the Chosen One from Mudhar,The Best of Mankind, among those who weep or smile.

And may his family and companions be preserved

By our Lord, along with all of [their] followers.

-Shaykh Abu Madyan