By Effat Saleh · Founder of islamtics · Sources: Sahih al-Bukhari 6306, Riyad as-Salihin 1875 · Updated
“Sayyidul Istighfar” is an Arabic phrase that translates to “The Master of Seeking Forgiveness.” It is the most superior way of asking Allah for pardon, taught by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari. Whoever recites this dua during the day with firm belief in it and dies before the evening, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, will be from the people of Paradise; the same promise stands for whoever recites it at night and dies before morning.
This guide gives you the full Sayyidul Istighfar dua in Arabic with harakat, an accurate transliteration, the English translation, the authentic hadith chain, a line-by-line meaning of every phrase, the correct times to recite it, and a side-by-side comparison with shorter duas for forgiveness like Astaghfirullah.
Table of Contents
What Is Sayyidul Istighfar?
The Arabic word Sayyid (سيد) means “master,” “chief,” or “leader,” and Istighfar (استغفار) means “asking Allah for forgiveness.” Together, Sayyid al-Istighfar literally translates as “the master of seeking forgiveness” — in other words, the highest, most complete form of asking Allah to pardon one’s sins. The name is not a title invented by scholars; it is the Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) own description of this supplication, recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari.
What makes this dua “the master” of all istighfar is the way it stitches together three things in a single short prayer: pure tawhid (declaring Allah as Lord and the only One worthy of worship), an honest acknowledgment of one’s covenant and shortcomings before Him, and a direct request for forgiveness. No other transmitted istighfar combines these elements as completely. That is why classical scholars treat it as the gold standard of repentance and tawbah.
The Full Sayyidul Istighfar Dua in Arabic
Below is the full text of Sayyidul Istighfar in Arabic with harakat, the standard Latin transliteration, and a faithful English translation. The wording matches the version recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6306.
Arabic Text
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَىَّ وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي، فَاغْفِرْ لِي، فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ.
Transliteration
Allahumma Anta Rabbi, la ilaha illa Anta, khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduka, wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika ma istata’tu, a’udhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu, abu’u laka bi ni’matika ‘alayya, wa abu’u laka bi dhanbi, faghfir li fa innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa Anta.
English Translation
“O Allah, You are my Lord. There is no god worthy of worship except You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I am on Your covenant and promise as best I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I acknowledge my sin, so forgive me, for indeed none can forgive sins except You.”
If you would like to hear the proper pronunciation before memorizing, the short recitation video below walks through the dua line by line in measured Arabic.
Related:
The Hadith of Sayyidul Istighfar (Sahih al-Bukhari 6306)
Sayyidul Istighfar is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6306 (Volume 8, Book 75 in the USC-MSA numbering, Hadith 318), in the chapter the imam himself titled Afdal al-Istighfar — “The Most Superior Way of Asking for Forgiveness.” It is also recorded in Riyad as-Salihin 1875 in the Book of Forgiveness, with the same wording. The narrator is the noble companion Shaddad ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), and Imam al-Bukhari classified it as sahih (authentic) by including it in his Sahih.
Shaddad ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The most superior way of asking for forgiveness from Allah is to say: Allahumma Anta Rabbi, la ilaha illa Anta, khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduka, wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika ma istata’tu, a’udhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu, abu’u laka bi ni’matika ‘alayya, wa abu’u laka bi dhanbi, faghfir li fa innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa Anta.‘”
The Prophet (ﷺ) added: “Whoever recites this during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be among the people of Paradise; and whoever recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning, he will be among the people of Paradise.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 6306
The two crucial conditions in the hadith are easy to skim past: “with firm faith in it” and the implied sincerity of the heart. The Prophet (ﷺ) is not describing a magical formula. He is describing a sincere believer who, in the act of saying these words, is genuinely affirming Allah’s lordship, honestly acknowledging both Allah’s favors and their own sins, and truly turning to Him for forgiveness. That state is what carries the promise of Paradise.
Line-by-Line Meaning of Sayyidul Istighfar
One reason Sayyidul Istighfar is called “the master” is that almost every phrase carries a distinct theological weight. Reciting it slowly, with awareness of what each line means, transforms it from a string of Arabic into a structured conversation with Allah. The breakdown below walks through the eight key segments of the dua.
Allahumma Anta Rabbi — “O Allah, You are my Lord”
The dua opens by addressing Allah directly and affirming His Rububiyyah — His exclusive lordship over creation, sustenance, and decree. You are placing yourself, before any request, as a created being acknowledging the One who creates, owns, and provides.
la ilaha illa Anta — “There is no god worthy of worship except You”
This is the second pillar of tawhid, Uluhiyyah: that worship belongs to Allah alone. Pairing it with the previous phrase makes the opening of Sayyidul Istighfar a complete declaration of monotheism — not an abstract one, but a personal one tied directly to your own worship.
khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduka — “You created me and I am Your servant”
You acknowledge that your existence is not your own doing. Allah created you, and the only honest position you can take in front of Him is the position of a servant — not a partner, not an equal, not someone bargaining from a distance.
wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika ma istata’tu — “and I am on Your covenant and promise as best I can”
This is the central honesty of the dua. You are reminding Allah (and yourself) of the primordial covenant taken from every soul — to worship Him alone — and your promise to obey and submit. The qualifier “as best I can” is profound: you are not claiming perfection. You are saying you are trying within your real human limits.
a’udhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu — “I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done”
You ask Allah for protection from the consequences of your own actions — from the harm of what you have already committed. This is not a vague request; it admits that sins have real spiritual and worldly weight, and seeks Allah’s shelter from that weight before asking for forgiveness itself.
abu’u laka bi ni’matika ‘alayya — “I acknowledge Your favor upon me”
Before mentioning your sin, you mention His blessing. You stop and recognize, openly, that everything good in your life — your faith, your body, your provision, your family — comes from Him. Gratitude is wedged into the middle of the dua so that repentance is never a transactional, self-pitying act.
wa abu’u laka bi dhanbi — “and I acknowledge my sin”
Now you confess. Not with vague language, but with ownership: my sin. There is no shifting blame, no rationalization, no comparing yourself to people who do worse. Owning the sin is itself part of the cure.
faghfir li fa innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunuba illa Anta — “so forgive me, for indeed none can forgive sins except You”
The dua closes with the request itself, immediately followed by the reason: only Allah can forgive sins. You are not asking out of habit. You are asking because there is literally no one else with the authority to grant pardon. This is the same truth that runs through the Quran whenever Allah describes Himself as al-Ghafur (the Oft-Forgiving) and al-Ghaffar (the Frequently Forgiving).
Virtues and Benefits of Sayyidul Istighfar
The benefits of Sayyidul Istighfar are not folklore; they are spelled out in the hadith itself. Three virtues stand out, each grounded directly in Bukhari 6306 or in the broader Sunnah of istighfar.
- It is the most superior form of istighfar. The Prophet (ﷺ) himself called it the highest way of asking Allah for forgiveness. Reciting it once is, in his words, more comprehensive than any shorter formula.
- The promise of Paradise. Whoever says it morning or evening with firm faith and dies on that day will be from the people of Jannah — a guarantee very few specific dhikrs in the Sunnah carry.
- It restructures the heart. Because the dua moves through tawhid, gratitude, confession, and request in that order, regular recitation reshapes the worshipper’s relationship with Allah away from entitlement and toward humility.
Beyond the explicit hadith promises, scholars across the schools of fiqh treat persistence in sincere istighfar as a key cause of relief from anxiety, deletion of past sins (Quran 25:70), and protection from punishment in the next life. Saying Sayyidul Istighfar daily is the strongest single way to act on those Quranic promises.
When to Recite Sayyidul Istighfar
The hadith of Bukhari 6306 anchors the recitation of Sayyidul Istighfar to two specific windows: once in the morning, and once in the evening. Beyond those two prescribed times, scholars also recommend it in moments where istighfar is generally encouraged — after fard prayers and during the night prayer.
Morning (after Fajr, with the morning adhkar)
The most established time to recite Sayyidul Istighfar is in the morning, ideally after Fajr prayer as part of the morning adhkar (remembrances). This is the explicit timing mentioned in the hadith — the worshipper says it once at the start of their day so that, if death comes before evening, the Prophet’s promise applies.
Evening (after Asr or Maghrib, with the evening adhkar)
The second prescribed time is in the evening — most scholars place it between Asr and Maghrib, or immediately after Maghrib, alongside the rest of the evening adhkar. Saying it once in this window mirrors the morning recitation and brings the same promise of Paradise should one pass away during the night.
During Tahajjud (the night prayer)
The last third of the night, the time of Tahajjud, is when Allah descends to the lowest heaven and asks: “Who is asking Me, that I may give him? Who is seeking My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?” Reciting Sayyidul Istighfar after the qiyam, in that window, joins the most superior istighfar with the most accepted moment of the night. There is no specific hadith tying this dua to Tahajjud, but the combination is recommended by scholars precisely because both ingredients — the dua and the time — are individually proven.
After obligatory prayers
The Sunnah after every fard prayer is to say Astaghfirullah three times before the rest of the post-salah dhikr. Sayyidul Istighfar fits naturally into that window for those who want a fuller form of istighfar after salah, especially after Fajr and Maghrib (which already overlap with the morning and evening adhkar windows).
How Many Times Should You Recite Sayyidul Istighfar?
The hadith of Bukhari 6306 specifies once in the morning and once in the evening. There is no authentic narration that prescribes Sayyidul Istighfar 70 or 100 times per day. The “70 times” figure comes from a separate hadith about the Prophet’s (ﷺ) general istighfar (Bukhari 6307), and “100 times” comes from Sahih Muslim 2702 — both of which describe his ordinary Astaghfirullah, not Sayyidul Istighfar specifically.
Practically, this means the Sunnah is one careful, conscious recitation in each of the two windows. If you want to add more istighfar throughout the day, the Sunnah way to do it is with shorter formulas like Astaghfirullah or Astaghfirullah Rabbi min kulli dhanb wa atubu ilayh — not by repeating the long Sayyidul Istighfar dozens of times.
Common Mistakes When Reciting Sayyidul Istighfar
Because Sayyidul Istighfar is long and recited from memory, several recurring mistakes weaken its effect or break the meaning entirely. The five below are the ones to watch for first.
- Reciting it without understanding what you are saying. Sayyidul Istighfar is a structured confession, not a magic formula. If you recite it in Arabic without knowing that you are affirming tawhid, acknowledging blessings, and confessing sin, you miss the very condition the Prophet (ﷺ) emphasized — “with firm faith in it.”
- Mispronouncing key words so the meaning shifts. Common slips include reading ‘abduka (“Your servant”) as ‘abdika, dropping the long vowel in la ilaha, or running abu’u together. Slow down, learn from a reciter, and read with the harakat shown above.
- Treating it as a charm against death. Some recite it in panic, expecting the words alone to guarantee Paradise without any change of heart. The hadith requires sincere belief and an honest disposition; the dua is a means, not a transaction.
- Reciting it more than the prescribed times in pursuit of “more reward.” The Sunnah is once morning and once evening. Adding extra repetitions does not add reward in the way it does for shorter dhikr; it can also crowd out other Sunnah remembrances.
- Skipping it on busy days. The biggest mistake in practice is simply forgetting. Anchoring it to a fixed habit — right after Fajr, right after Maghrib — makes the daily promise of Paradise something you actually claim.
Sayyidul Istighfar vs. Astaghfirullah and Other Istighfar Duas
Sayyidul Istighfar is not the only authentic istighfar in the Sunnah; it is the most complete one. The shorter Astaghfirullah (“I seek Allah’s forgiveness”) is what the Prophet (ﷺ) repeated dozens of times a day; longer formulas like Astaghfirullah Rabbi min kulli dhanb wa atubu ilayh add the dimension of explicit tawbah. Each form has its place. The table below summarizes the differences so you know which to use when.
| Dua | Length | Source | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayyidul Istighfar | Long (8 phrases) | Sahih al-Bukhari 6306 | Once morning, once evening — the daily anchor of istighfar |
| Astaghfirullah | One word | Bukhari 6307; Muslim 2702 | Throughout the day; after fard salah; as constant background dhikr |
| Astaghfirullah Rabbi min kulli dhanb wa atubu ilayh | Medium | Reported in classical hadith collections | When you want to combine istighfar with explicit repentance (tawbah) |
| Other forgiveness duas (e.g. Rabbana zalamna anfusana) | Varies | Quran 7:23 and others | In sujood, in personal dua, when reflecting on a specific sin |
The clearest way to think about it: Sayyidul Istighfar is your two daily anchors — once morning, once evening, recited with full attention. Plain Astaghfirullah is the dhikr that should be on your tongue throughout the day in between. Together, they form a complete istighfar practice that mirrors what the Prophet (ﷺ) actually did.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sayyidul Istighfar and where does it come from?
Sayyidul Istighfar (سيد الاستغفار) means “the master of seeking forgiveness.” It is a dua taught by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6306, in the chapter “The Most Superior Way of Asking for Forgiveness.” It is also preserved in Riyad as-Salihin 1875. The companion who narrated it is Shaddad ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), and Imam al-Bukhari himself classified it as authentic by including it in his Sahih.
Is Sayyidul Istighfar in the Quran?
No — Sayyidul Istighfar is from the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), not from the Quran. The Quran contains many other duas of forgiveness (for example Surah Al-A’raf 7:23, the dua of Adam and Hawwa), but the specific wording of Sayyidul Istighfar was taught by the Prophet (ﷺ) and is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari 6306. Both Quranic duas and authentic Sunnah duas are valid; this one happens to be the highest form of istighfar from the Sunnah.
When and how many times should I recite Sayyidul Istighfar?
The hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari 6306 prescribes Sayyidul Istighfar once in the morning and once in the evening. There is no authentic narration that says to recite it 70 or 100 times. Those numbers come from separate hadiths about the Prophet’s (ﷺ) general use of shorter istighfar (Astaghfirullah), not Sayyidul Istighfar specifically. Anchor it to your morning and evening adhkar; if you want more istighfar in between, use shorter formulas like Astaghfirullah throughout the day.
Is Sayyidul Istighfar better than saying Astaghfirullah?
They serve different purposes. The Prophet (ﷺ) called Sayyidul Istighfar “the most superior way” of asking forgiveness, so as a single composed dua it is more comprehensive than the one-word Astaghfirullah. But the Prophet (ﷺ) himself said Astaghfirullah dozens of times a day as constant dhikr. The Sunnah practice is to use Sayyidul Istighfar as your fixed morning and evening anchor, and Astaghfirullah as ongoing dhikr throughout the day.
Can a woman recite Sayyidul Istighfar during her period?
Yes. Sayyidul Istighfar is dhikr — remembrance of Allah and a dua for forgiveness — not Quran recitation. The scholarly rulings that restrict women during menstruation address touching the mushaf and reciting the Quran specifically; they do not apply to general dhikr or to making dua. A woman in her period should continue to say her morning and evening adhkar, including Sayyidul Istighfar, as normal.
What does the Prophet’s promise of Paradise actually mean?
The Prophet (ﷺ) attached two clear conditions: “with firm faith in it” and the implied sincerity of the heart. The promise is not a magical guarantee triggered by Arabic syllables. It applies to the believer who, in saying Sayyidul Istighfar, is genuinely affirming Allah’s lordship, honestly acknowledging both His blessings and their own sins, and truly turning to Him. The dua is a real means; sincerity is the condition that activates it.
Memorize Sayyidul Istighfar this week, build it into your morning and evening routine, and treat it the way the Prophet (ﷺ) treated it — as the daily anchor of asking Allah for forgiveness. Two short minutes of attention, twice a day, attached to one of the strongest promises in the Sunnah.
Masha Allah Alhamdulillah 🙏🙏❤️