“O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant. I acknowledge Your favour upon me and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for none forgives sins but You.”

Shaddād ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) reported from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): "The best way of seeking Allah's forgiveness is to say: 'Allāhumma anta rabbi la ilāha illa ant khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduk wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa‘dika mastata‘t a‘ūdhu bika min sharri ma sana‘t abū’u laka bini‘matika ‘alayya wa abū’u bidhanbi faghfir li fa innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunūba illa ant (O Allah, You are my Lord. You created me, and I am Your slave. I will remain faithful to Your covenant and promise as much as possible. I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I admit my sin. So, forgive me. Indeed, none can forgive sins but You).'" He (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) added: "And whoever says this during the day while being certain of its meaning, then he dies before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise, and whoever says it at night while being certain of its meaning then he dies before the morning, he will be from the people of Paradise."

Narrated by Shaddad ibn Aws and recorded by al-Bukhari, who preserves it as sayyid al-istighfar — the foremost way of asking forgiveness. The full wording adds a clause the quotation leaves out: “and I hold to Your covenant and Your promise as much as I am able.” The scholars point to the honesty of that qualification, and to the order of the whole: who Allah is, who I am, what He gave, what I did, and only then the request.