Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 388
388 MALFŪZĀT - ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF URDU VOLUME 9 The Meaning of Istighfar The very meaning of istighfar is that no sins are actually com- mitted and the faculty to commit sin should not come into play. This is, in fact, the true meaning of the Prophets engag- ing in istighfar. Although they are [perfectly] innocent, they engage in istighfar so that this faculty does not surface in the future. As for the general public, the other meaning also must be considered that the crimes and sins that they have commit- ted, God may protect them from their ill-consequences and forgive those sins, and also safeguard them from committing future sins. In any case, it is essential for man to always remain engaged in istighfar. These famines and all manner of other calamities that descend upon the earth, their purpose is indeed to make people engage in istighfār. But istighfār does not mean just to go on repeating, Astaghfirullāh, Astaghfirullāh ['I seek Allah's forgiveness, I seek Allah's forgiveness']. The reality is that its true nature has remained hidden from people due to it being in a foreign tongue. The people of Arabia understood these mat- ters very well, but many realities have remained hidden in our country due to it being a foreign term. Many people say, 'We recited istighfar so many times, cycled through a hundred or a thousand tasbihs,¹ but when they are asked the meaning and the purpose of istighfar, they know nothing. They are dumbfounded. Man ought to contin- uously seek forgiveness in his heart of hearts with sincerity so that he does not have to taste the punishment of the sins and crimes that he has committed and in the future go on seek- ing help from God all the time that, going forward, may He 1. Recitation of Subhān-Allāh ('Holy is Allah') or other phrases expressing the Holiness of Allah. [Publisher]