Immediate Repentance and Forgiveness
رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي، فَاغْفِرْ لِي.
رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي
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“My Lord! I have wronged myself, so forgive me.”
Form: Immediate repentance “zalamtu nafsee” (I have wronged myself) and the verb “ighfir lee” (forgive me). Musa’s supplication after the accidental, unintentional killing of an Egyptian.
Tafsir of Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Saadi
Sheikh as-Saadi writes: “Musa did not want to kill the Egyptian, he only wanted to push him away. Yet, having committed this sin unintentionally, he at once turned to Allah with repentance, and Allah forgave him.”
Tafsir of Imam Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir points out: “The swiftness of Allah’s forgiveness shows that sincere repentance instantly washes away sin.”
Tafsir al-Baghawi
«…(And Moses) said: “My Lord! Indeed, I have wronged myself…” by killing a Copt without being commanded to do so.
«…So forgive me!” And He forgave him (his sin): indeed, He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!…»
In “Sahih al-Bukhari” (No. 7507) a hadith qudsi is reported: “A servant committed a sin and said: ’O Lord, forgive me!’ And Allah said: ’My servant knew that he has a Lord Who forgives sins… I have forgiven My servant!’”