Sayyidina Nuh’s Exhortation to Seek Forgiveness

فَقُلتُ استَغفِروا رَبَّكُم إِنَّهُ كانَ غَفّارًا

يُرسِلِ السَّماءَ عَلَيكُم مِدرارًا

وَيُمدِدكُم بِأَموالٍ وَبَنينَ وَيَجعَل لَكُم جَنّاتٍ وَيَجعَل لَكُم أَنهارًا

I said, “Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Truly He is Endlessly Forgiving.

He will send [rain from] the sky upon you in [continuing] showers

and reinforce you with more wealth and sons, and grant you gardens and grant you waterways.

(Quran 71:12)

We all know how asking for forgiveness erases our sins and that Allah loves those who seek forgiveness. But what is the manifestation of Allah’s love for the servant who makes istighfar (seek forgiveness)? This exhortation of Sayyidina Nuh gives us a glimpse of that love. Allah loves those who seek forgiveness so much, that not only He forgives their sins, He increases them in all sorts of blessings without them having to even ask for it! The blessings mentioned in these verses are few, but they represent the totality of blessings that all men covet.

A great scholar of the past, Imam Hassan Al-Basri, was approached by a few people with different problems from poverty to having no children. To all of them, his advice was, “Seek forgiveness from Allah.” A student of the Imam asked him why he gave the same response to all of them despite their varying problems, to which the great Imam replied, “I have not said anything of my own accord, but Allah said in surah Nuh …” [and he recited the verses above]. (This story can be found in the exegesis of these verses in Tafsir al-Qurtubi)

Such is the power of making istighfar. Not only will our sins be forgiven, Allah will also shower upon us many blessings beyond what we can ever hope and imagine. 

Let us be of those who always say Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah that we may receive the abundant blessings therein that Allah has promised. Ameen.