سْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ
Forgiveness Poem
By Abu Madyan al Ghawth
Student’s notes from the Night of Illumination
with His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
Ramadhan 1447

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مُجْرِي الفُلْكِ فِي الظُّلَمِ *** عَلَى عُبَابٍ مِنَ التَّيَّارِ مُلْتَطِمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah who carries ships in the darkness
over strong conflicting currents in the ocean

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مُنْجِي المُسْتَجِيرِ بِهِ *** إِذَا أَلَمَّ بِهِ ضُرٌّ مِنَ الأَلَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah who rescues anyone
who seeks refuge with Him when struck by severe pain

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ غَفَّارَ الذُّنُوبِ لِمَنْ *** بالإِنْكِسَارِ أَتَى وَالذُّلِّ وَالنَّدَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah who forgives all sins of the one
who comes to Him with a broken heart, with humility and remorse

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ سَتَّارَ العُيُوبِ عَلَى *** أَهْلِ العُيُوبِ وَمُنْجِيهِمْ مِنَ النِّقَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah, the Concealer of faults
for those who have faults and the One Who saves them from calamities

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ نُطْقِي وَمِنْ خُلُقِي *** وَشَيْنِ شَأْنِي وَمِنْ شَكْلِي وَمِنْ نَمَمِي
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my utterances and from my character
and from the shame of my peers, from my appearance, from my calumny (slandering, gossiping)

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ سِرِّي وَمِنْ عَلَنِي *** وَمِنْ تَقَلُّبِ قَلْبِي وَابْتِسَامِ فَمِي
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my secret and public states (that are not in conformity with each other)
and from my heart that is always changing (never in one state) and from the smiles of my mouth (in the wrong context)

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ سَمْعِي وَمِنْ بَصَرِي *** وَمِنْ ضَمِيرِي وَمِنْ فِكْرِي وَمِنْ كَلِمِي
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my hearing and my sight,
from my conscience, from my thoughts and from my words

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ جُرْمِي وَمِنْ زَلَلِي *** وَمِنْ كَبَائِرِ آثَامِي وَمِنْ لَمَمِي
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my crimes and my slips,
and from my major sins and my minor sins

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِمَّا قَدْ جَنَتْهُ يَدِي *** مِنَ الخَطَايَا وَمَا قَدَّمْتُ بِالقَدَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from the mistakes I committed with my hand
and what I committed with my foot

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِمَّا لَمْ تَكُنْ كَسَبَتْ *** كَفِّي وَمَا اكْتَسَبَتْ فِي مَبْلَغِ الحُلُمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from what my hand did not do (in aid of others)
and the wrong that it acquired since the age of maturity

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ نَفْسِي وَمِنْ نَفَسِي *** وَخَاطِرٍ وَخُطُورِ الوَهْمِ بِالتُّهَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my ego and from my breath,
from passing thoughts and from illusions of accusing Allah of not doing justice to me

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ طَبْعِي وَمِنْ طَمَعِي *** وَمِنْ تَحَوُّلِ حَالِي حَالَةَ السَّقَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my intrinsic (bad) nature
and from my greed and from my changing state when I am ill
(when I start accusing Allah of not doing justice to me)

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ قَوْلِي أَنَا وَمَعِي *** وَلِي وَعِنْدِي وَمِنْ ظَنِّي وَمِنْ قَسَمِي
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from saying I am, with me,
I have, and from my bad thoughts and from the oaths I make (and don’t fulfil)

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِمَّا لَسْتُ أَعْلَمُهُ *** وَمَا عَلِمْتُ وَمَا حَرَّفْتُ بِالقَلَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from the sins I am not aware of
and the ones I am aware of and from each letter I wrote with my pen
(note: what we type nowadays, each strike of the keyboard with the finger – use the finger with the subha to ask forgiveness – comparable compensation – similarly for sins of the eyes, sit and look at the rawdah sharifa for long periods of time – good deeds erase bad deeds – if you have committed sins with a certain limb, try to use that limb to do something good in direct compensation)

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِنْ نَوْمِي وَمِنْ سِنَتِي *** وَيَقْظَتِي وَبِهِ مَا عِشْتُ مُعْتَصَمِي
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from my sleep (eg. slept and missed a prayer) and from my slumber
and from my wakefulness and I cling to Allah as my refuge as long as I am alive

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مِمَّا كَانَ فِي صِغَرِي *** مِنَ الخِلَافِ لِعُمْرِ الشَّيْبِ وَالهَرَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah from what I committed when I was young
before I became old and wise/righteous

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مَا هَبَّتْ يَمَانِيَةٌ *** وَسَحَّتِ السُّحْبُ فِي الأَطَامِ وَالأَكَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as long as the Yemeni breezes come around
and as long as clouds send down their rains over castles and hills

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مَا سَارَ الحَجِيجُ إِلَى *** مَعَالِمٍ شُرِّفَتْ بِالحِلِّ وَالحَرَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as long as pilgrims travel to
the honoured landmarks in the sanctuary and outside it

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ مَا لَاحَ الصَّبَاحُ وَمَا *** تَغَنَّتِ الطَّيْرُ فِي الأَغْصَانِ بِالنَّغَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as long as the morning looms away (ie. in every minute)
and as long as birds on their branches sing melodies

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الْحُرُوفِ وَمَا *** في الذِّكْرِ مِنْ آيَةٍ تُتْلَىٰ وَمِنْ حِكَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of letters
and the number of verses of the Qur’an that have been recited of all wisdom

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الهَوَامِ وَمَا *** في الْأُفْقِ مِنْ عَالَمٍ وَالْأَرْضِ مِنْ عَلَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of insects
and all that is beyond the horizon of what Allah created and every landmark on the face of the earth

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ النَّبَاتِ وَمَا *** فِي البَحْرِ مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ وَالبَرِّ مِنْ نَعَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of plants
and the number of (edible) bounties in the ocean and the number of (edible) bounties in the land

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الرِّيَاحِ وَمَا *** تَجْرِي عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْأَقْوَاتِ وَالنَّسَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of storms of the winds
and the amount of food and people that the winds pass by

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الكَوَاكِبِ فِي *** دَاجِي الغَيَاهِبِ مِنْ بَادٍ وَمُكْتَتَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of planets and stars
in the deep darkness of the universe, the ones that appear and the ones that do not appear (there are trillions)

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الرِّمَالِ وَمَا *** يَنْهَلُّ فِي عَالَمِ الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الدِّيَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of grains of sand
and the drops of rain that fall in this world

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الخَلَائِقِ مِنْ *** إِنْسٍ وَجِنٍّ وَمِنْ عُرْبٍ وَمِنْ عَجَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of all created beings
from mankind and jinn, Arabs and non-Arabs

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ تَعْدَادَ الخَوَاطِرِ فِي *** صُدُورِ أَهْلِ النُّهَىٰ وَالعِلْمِ وَالحِكَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah as much as the number of good thoughts
that pass in the chests/hearts of the people of knowledge and wisdom

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ جَلَّ اللهُ خَالِقُنَا *** بَارِي البَرَايَا وَمُحْيِي الْأَعْظُمِ الرِّمَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah, Glorified be He, Our Creator.
The Originator of mankind and the One who gives life to decayed bones

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ جَلَّ اللهُ رَازِقُنَا *** المُنْعِمُ الْمُفْضِلُ المَوْصُوفُ بِالكَرَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah, Glorified be He, Our Provider.
…

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ جَلَّ اللهُ بَاعِثُنَا *** مِنْ يَوْمِ مُزْدَحَمِ الأَمْلَاكِ وَالْأُمَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah, Glorified be He, Who resurrects us
on the day that is overcrowded with angels and nations

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ أَضْعَافًا مُضَاعَفَةً *** مِمَّا ذَكَرْتُ مِنَ الْأَجْنَاسِ وَالْقِسَمِ
I seek the forgiveness of Allah many more times
than all the classes and categories I have mentioned

ثُمَّ الصَّلَاةُ عَلَى المُخْتَارِ مِنْ مُضَرٍ*** خَيْرِ الْبَرِيَّةِ مِنْ بَاكٍ وَمُبْتَسِمِ
Blessings be upon the Chosen One from the tribe of Mudar,
the Best of mankind from all those who cry or smile