Can You Please Explain This Line in the Sayyid Al-Istighfar Supplication?
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question
I want to say the supplication, “O Allah, You are my Lord. None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me, and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise (to You) as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins except You.” I don’t understand the statement: “I am faithful to my covenant and promise (to you) as much as I can.” Can you explain what it means so I may understand what I am saying?
Answer
Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for asking about this supplication and making it a reminder to myself and others.
Sayyid al-Istighfar
اللّهـمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّـي لا إلهَ إلاّ أَنْتَ
خَلَقْتَنـي وَأَنا عَبْـدُك
وَأَنا عَلـى عَهْـدِكَ وَوَعْـدِكَ ما اسْتَـطَعْـت
أَعـوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَـرِّ ما صَنَـعْت
أَبـوءُ لَـكَ بِنِعْـمَتِـكَ عَلَـيَّ
وَأَبـوءُ بِذَنْـبي فَاغْفـِرْ لي
فَإِنَّـهُ لا يَغْـفِرُ الذُّنـوبَ إِلاّ أَنْتَ
O Allah, You are my Lord; there is none worthy of worship but You.
You created me, and I am your slave.
I am fulfilling my covenant and promise to You as far as I can.
I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done.
I acknowledge Your blessings upon me,
and I admit to my misdeeds. Forgive me,
for there is none who may forgive sins but You.
Reference
Whoever recites this with conviction in the evening and dies during that night shall enter Paradise, and whoever recites it with conviction in the morning and dies during that day shall enter Paradise. [Bukhari; Nasa’i; Tirmidhi]
Covenant
Allah Most High tells in the Quran, “And ˹remember˺ when your Lord brought forth, from the loins of the children of Adam, their descendants and had them testify regarding themselves. ˹Allah asked,˺ “Am I not your Lord?” They replied, “Yes, You are! We testify.” ˹He cautioned,˺ “Now you have no right to say on Judgment Day, ‘We were not aware of this.’” [Quran, 7:172]
This verse tells us of the covenant and promises we made to Allah when we were only souls. This promise means that we believe in our Lord and try to the best of our ability to apply Islam in our lives by avoiding the prohibited and performing the obligatory.
Please see more details here:
What Does It Mean to Have a Covenant with Allah?
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqida, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
