Dua for Forgiveness: 12 Authentic Duas With Arabic and Meaning

Why dua for forgiveness is the dua we need most

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Every son of Adam sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent." (Tirmidhi, graded hasan). That single line sets the tone for everything on this page. Sinning is not the surprise. Turning back is the point.

Allah describes Himself as Al-Ghafur (the Forgiving), Al-Ghaffar (the Perpetual Forgiver), At-Tawwab (the One who accepts repentance) and Al-Afuww (the One who pardons and erases). He addresses people who have gone far, not just the slightly careless, when He says:

"Say: O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." (Quran 39:53)

And in a hadith qudsi He says: "O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and hope in Me, I will forgive you for what you have done, and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you sought My forgiveness, I would forgive you." (Tirmidhi, graded hasan)

So the duas below are not a formality. They are how you take Allah up on that offer.

The best dua for forgiveness: Sayyidul Istighfar

The Prophet (peace be upon him) called this one "the master of seeking forgiveness" (sayyid al-istighfar). It is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, and the Prophet said that whoever says it in the day with firm conviction and dies before evening is among the people of Paradise, and whoever says it at night with firm conviction and dies before morning is among the people of Paradise.

Arabic

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ

Transliteration

Allahumma anta Rabbi, la ilaha illa anta, khalaqtani wa ana abduka, wa ana ala ahdika wa wa'dika mastata'tu, a'udhu bika min sharri ma sana'tu, abu'u laka bi ni'matika alayya, wa abu'u bi dhanbi, faghfir li, fa innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa anta.

Meaning

"O Allah, You are my Lord, there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I keep to Your covenant and promise as much as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favour upon me, and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for none forgives sins except You."

Why it is called the master

Read it slowly and you will see that it contains every element of real repentance. It affirms who Allah is. It affirms who you are (a servant). It admits weakness ("as much as I can"). It admits the sin plainly instead of hiding it. It acknowledges that everything good you have came from Him. And it asks for forgiveness while stating the only reason it can be granted: no one else can grant it.

When to say it: morning and evening, as part of your daily adhkar. Many people say it right after Fajr and right after Asr or Maghrib.

The shortest dua for forgiveness: Astaghfirullah

The simplest and most repeated form of seeking forgiveness is just this:

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ

Astaghfirullah: "I seek forgiveness from Allah."

The fuller form the Prophet (peace be upon him) used:

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ

Astaghfirullaha wa atubu ilayh: "I seek forgiveness from Allah and I turn to Him in repentance."

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day." (Bukhari). In another report he said, "O people, repent to Allah, for I repent to Him a hundred times a day." (Muslim)

That is the man whose past and future sins were forgiven. If he did it a hundred times a day, the rest of us have no excuse for doing it zero times.

How to use it: say it after every prayer (the Prophet said astaghfirullah three times immediately after the taslim, as reported in Muslim), while walking, while driving, while waiting in a queue. It needs no wudu, no direction, no particular place.

Rabbi ighfir li wa tub alayya

Ibn Umar said he counted the Prophet (peace be upon him) saying this a hundred times in a single sitting:

رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَتُبْ عَلَيَّ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

Rabbi ighfir li wa tub alayya, innaka anta at-Tawwab ar-Rahim

"My Lord, forgive me and accept my repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepter of repentance, the Merciful." (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi; graded sahih)

Notice it asks for two things: forgiveness for what has passed, and acceptance of the turning back. Both matter.

Dua for forgiveness inside salah

The Sunnah places istighfar right in the middle of the prayer, which tells you how central it is.

Between the two prostrations

رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي، رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي

Rabbighfir li, Rabbighfir li: "My Lord, forgive me. My Lord, forgive me." (Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah)

In sujud

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The closest a servant is to his Lord is when he is in prostration, so make plenty of dua." (Muslim). Any of the duas on this page can be said in sujud in a voluntary prayer, and in the obligatory prayer you can say them in your own words after the tasbih as well.

Before the taslim, the dua Abu Bakr asked for

Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Prophet to teach him a dua to say in his prayer, and he was taught this:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي ظُلْمًا كَثِيرًا، وَلَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، فَاغْفِرْ لِي مَغْفِرَةً مِنْ عِنْدِكَ، وَارْحَمْنِي، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Allahumma inni zalamtu nafsi zulman kathira, wa la yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa anta, faghfir li maghfiratan min indika, warhamni, innaka anta al-Ghafur ar-Rahim

"O Allah, I have wronged myself greatly, and none forgives sins but You, so grant me forgiveness from Yourself and have mercy on me. Indeed, You are the Forgiving, the Merciful." (Bukhari and Muslim)

Say it after the tashahhud and salawat, before you say the salam.

Duas for forgiveness from the Quran

The Quran records the exact words the Prophets used when they turned back to Allah. Using them is following in their footsteps.

The dua of Adam and Hawwa

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lanakunanna minal khasirin

"Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers." (Quran 7:23)

This is the first istighfar in human history, and it is the pattern for all the rest: no excuses, no blaming, an honest "we did this", and total dependence on Allah's mercy.

The dua of Yunus

لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

La ilaha illa anta, subhanaka, inni kuntu minaz zalimin

"There is no god but You. Glory be to You. Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers." (Quran 21:87)

Yunus (peace be upon him) said this from inside the whale, in three layers of darkness, and Allah says in the next verse, "So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said no Muslim calls on Allah with these words for anything except that Allah answers him (Tirmidhi, Ahmad).

The dua of Musa

رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي

Rabbi inni zalamtu nafsi faghfir li

"My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me." (Quran 28:16). The verse continues: "So He forgave him. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

The dua of Nuh, for yourself and your parents

رَّبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِمَن دَخَلَ بَيْتِيَ مُؤْمِنًا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ

Rabbighfir li wa liwalidayya wa liman dakhala baytiya mu'minan wa lil mu'minina wal mu'minat

"My Lord, forgive me and my parents and whoever enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and believing women." (Quran 71:28)

The dua of the believers

رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ

Rabbana innana amanna faghfir lana dhunubana wa qina adhaban nar

"Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire." (Quran 3:16)

The closing dua of Surah al-Baqarah

وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا

Wa'fu anna, waghfir lana, warhamna, anta mawlana

"And pardon us, and forgive us, and have mercy upon us. You are our protector." (Quran 2:286)

Three words for three levels of relief: afw (erasing the sin completely), maghfirah (covering it), rahmah (mercy on top). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said whoever recites the last two verses of al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice him (Bukhari and Muslim).

For those who came before us

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالْإِيمَانِ

Rabbanaghfir lana wa li ikhwaninal ladhina sabaquna bil iman

"Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith." (Quran 59:10)

The dua for the last ten nights of Ramadan

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet what she should say if she found Laylatul Qadr. He told her:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fa'fu anni

"O Allah, You are Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me." (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah; graded sahih)

It is short enough to repeat hundreds of times in a night, and it asks for afw, the highest form of forgiveness, where the sin is wiped out as though it never happened.

A comprehensive dua of the Prophet for forgiveness

When you feel that your sins are too many and too varied to even list, this dua covers all of them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say:

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي خَطِيئَتِي وَجَهْلِي، وَإِسْرَافِي فِي أَمْرِي، وَمَا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنِّي، اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي جِدِّي وَهَزْلِي، وَخَطَئِي وَعَمْدِي، وَكُلُّ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي، اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَمَا أَخَّرْتُ، وَمَا أَسْرَرْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ، وَمَا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنِّي، أَنْتَ الْمُقَدِّمُ وَأَنْتَ الْمُؤَخِّرُ، وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Allahummaghfir li khati'ati wa jahli, wa israfi fi amri, wa ma anta a'lamu bihi minni. Allahummaghfir li jiddi wa hazli, wa khata'i wa amdi, wa kullu dhalika indi. Allahummaghfir li ma qaddamtu wa ma akhkhartu, wa ma asrartu wa ma a'lantu, wa ma anta a'lamu bihi minni. Antal Muqaddimu wa antal Mu'akhkhiru, wa anta ala kulli shay'in qadir.

"O Allah, forgive me my mistakes and my ignorance, my excess in my affairs, and what You know better than I do. O Allah, forgive me what I did seriously and in jest, by mistake and deliberately, and all of that is with me. O Allah, forgive me what I have done before and what I will do after, what I have hidden and what I have shown, and what You know better than I do. You are the One who brings forward and the One who puts back, and You are able to do all things." (Bukhari and Muslim)

How to make tawbah properly, not just say the words

Scholars, drawing on the Quran and Sunnah, describe sincere repentance (tawbah nasuh, Quran 66:8) as having these parts. Saying a dua for forgiveness is the voice of repentance; these are its body.

1. Stop the sin. Asking forgiveness while continuing is, as the early Muslims put it, like mocking Allah. If you cannot stop all at once, stop what you can right now and keep asking.
2. Feel genuine regret. Not despair, which is a sin in itself, but the honest discomfort of knowing you did something Allah dislikes. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Regret is repentance." (Ibn Majah, Ahmad)
3. Resolve firmly not to return. Even if you later slip, the resolve at the moment of tawbah must be real. If you slip, you repent again. There is no counter that runs out.
4. Restore people's rights. If the sin involved another person, their money, their honour, their trust, forgiveness from Allah is tied to making it right with them: return what you took, apologise, or ask them to forgive you. If they cannot be reached, make dua for them and give charity on their behalf.
5. Do it before it is too late. Allah accepts repentance as long as the soul has not reached the throat and the sun has not risen from the west (Tirmidhi, Muslim). Nobody knows when their moment is, which is the whole argument for doing it today.

A practical routine

• After every fard prayer: astaghfirullah three times, then the adhkar.
• Every morning and evening: Sayyidul Istighfar once, slowly, with meaning.
• In a quiet moment before sleep: two rakat of voluntary prayer, then in sujud, the dua of Yunus or "Rabbi inni zalamtu nafsi faghfir li", naming the specific things that weigh on you.
• In the last third of the night if you can wake for it: Allah descends to the lowest heaven and says, "Who is seeking My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?" (Bukhari and Muslim)
• Fridays and the last hour before Maghrib on Friday, and the last ten nights of Ramadan: increase everything.

Signs your repentance is working

You will not get a receipt. But the Sunnah gives you signs to look for. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that when the believer sins, a black spot appears on his heart, and if he repents and seeks forgiveness, his heart is polished (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah). So look for the polish: the sin feels heavier to you than before, not lighter. You find yourself avoiding the situations that led to it. Prayer feels closer. And, in a sign the Prophet mentioned specifically about istighfar, doors open that were shut: "Whoever holds fast to seeking forgiveness, Allah will make for him a way out of every difficulty, relief from every worry, and will provide for him from where he did not expect." (Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah; some scholars grade its chain weak, though its meaning is confirmed by Quran 71:10 to 12, where Nuh tells his people that istighfar brings rain, wealth, children and gardens.)