سورة آل عمران

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: "Who are الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [those who seek forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours]?" He replied: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) used to seek forgiveness seventy times in his witr prayer."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) was asked about the time of the night prayer. He said: "It is the same time that has been narrated from my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), who said: 'At that time the caller of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, calls out: Is there any supplicant that I may answer him? Is there any seeker of forgiveness that I may forgive him?'" The questioner said: "When is that?" He said: "It is the time at which Yaqub (peace be upon him) promised his sons with his words: I shall soon ask forgiveness for you from my Lord. (Yusuf/98)" The questioner said: "When is that?" He said: "It is the time about which Allah said: وَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [and those who seek forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours]. The night prayer at the end of the night is superior to it before that, and it is the time of answer."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "May I be your ransom! I miss the night prayer and pray the dawn prayer. May I, after the dawn prayer, pray the prayers I have missed while I am at my place of prayer before sunrise?" He said: "Yes, but do not inform your family of it, lest you make it a custom and thereby nullify the word of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [and those who seek forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali (peace be upon him), pray in the depth of the night, even if [it is only for a few minutes,] the time it takes to milk a goat. For Allah the Exalted says: الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Whoever says at the time of sahar (pre-dawn) seventy times, "Astaghfirullah," will be among those about whom Allah has said: الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times]; and whoever recites seventy verses of the Qur'an during the night will not be counted among the heedless.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): One who continually performs the night prayer and the witr prayer, and in every witr prayer says "Astaghfirullah" seventy times, and keeps this up for a year, is placed among الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [those who ask forgiveness in the morning times].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever says at the end of the sahar in his witr prayer seventy times, "Astaghfirullah wa atubu ilayh," and keeps this up for a year, will certainly be forgiven.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Eat the sahar meal, even if only with a sip of water, and when the time of iftar arrives, break your fast, even if only with half a date. The sahar meal is a blessing, and Allah has angels who send blessings upon those who seek forgiveness at the times of sahar, upon those who rise for sahar, and upon those who eat the sahar meal.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed, when Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, sees the people of a town who have gone beyond bounds in sins, and in that town there are three believers, Allah the Magnificent calls out to them: "O people of disobedience to Me! Were it not for those among you of the believers who love one another for the sake of My Majesty, who fill My earth and My mosques with their prayers, and who seek forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours out of fear of Me, I would have sent down My punishment upon you and I would not have cared."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Indeed Allah the Exalted says: I intend to punish the people of the earth, but when I look at those who keep My houses populated, and at those who stay awake at night in worship, and at those who love one another for My sake, and at those who seek forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours, I turn the punishment away from them.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times] — they are those who pray at the time of sahar (pre-dawn).

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Allah loves three sounds: the sound of the rooster, the sound of the reciter of the Quran, and the sound of those who seek forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Kumayl ibn Ziyad said: I said to Imam Ali (peace be upon him): "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! A servant of Allah commits a sin and then seeks forgiveness from Allah — what is the limit of seeking forgiveness and the measure of asking pardon?" He said: "O son of Ziyad! Repentance." I said: "Just this?!" He said: "No!" I said: "Then how is it?" He said: "When a servant of Allah commits a sin, he says 'astaghfirullah', with movement." I said: "Movement of what?" He said: "The lips and the tongue, intending to follow it with reality." I said: "What is the reality?" He said: "The heart's belief and the resolve not to return to the sin from which he sought forgiveness." [I said:] "If I do that, am I among those who seek forgiveness?" He said: "No!" "Then how?" He said: "Because you have not yet reached the root of istighfar." "What is the root of istighfar?" He said: "Returning through repentance from the sin whose forgiveness you have sought — and that is the first degree and rank of the worshippers, and the abandoning of sin. And istighfar is a name whose meaning has six parts: first, regret over what is past; second, the firm resolve never to return to that sin; third, fulfilling the rights owed between you and other creatures; fourth, discharging the right of Allah in the obligatory duties; fifth, that you melt away the flesh that has grown from unlawful and forbidden food, until the skin sticks to the bone, and then fresh flesh grows in its place; and sixth, that you make your body taste the pain of obedience just as you made it taste the pleasures of sins."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالأَسْحَارِ [and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times]; they are the ones who supplicate.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Behold! Allah's blessings be upon those who rise at dawn (sahar) and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times.