What Are the Benefits of Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness?
ما هي فوائد الاستغفار؟
Allah will send down abundant rain.
He Almighty will grant you wealth.
He Almighty will give you children.
He Almighty will give you gardens and rivers.
(Seek your Lord’s forgiveness, ˹for˺ He is truly Most Forgiving. He will shower you with abundant rain, supply you with wealth and children, and give you gardens as well as rivers.) [Nuh 71:10-12]
Note: The earlier published Arabic numbered Surah Nuh as 70; it is Surah 71, so the number was corrected.
إن الله يرسل المطر الغزير.
يعطيك الله من فضله.
يرزقكم الله الأولاد.
يرزقكم الله جنات وأنهارا.
(فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا ﴿١٠﴾ يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا ﴿١١﴾ وَيُمْدِدْكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ أَنْهَارًا) [نوح 71: 10-12]
ملاحظة: جاء في النص المنشور سابقا أن سورة نوح هي السورة السبعون، وهي السورة الحادية والسبعون، فصحح الرقم.
1. Rain Sent in Abundance | يرسل السماء عليكم مدرارا
Nuh told his people: Seek your Lord’s forgiveness, for He is truly Most Forgiving. He will shower you with abundant rain (71:10-11). Ibn Kathir explains: return to Him, turn back from what you are in, and repent to Him soon, for whoever repents to Him, He accepts his repentance, whatever his sins may be, even in disbelief and shirk; abundant means rain that keeps coming, and for this verse the surah is recommended in the prayer for rain; it is reported that Umar ibn al-Khattab climbed the pulpit to pray for rain and said nothing more than seeking forgiveness, reciting the verses on seeking forgiveness. See how Nuh admonished and warned his people.
يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا (سورة نوح: 11)
قال تعالى على لسان نوح عليه السلام: (فقلت استغفروا ربكم إنه كان غفارا يرسل السماء عليكم مدرارا) (نوح 71: 10-11)، قال ابن كثير: أي: ارجعوا إليه وارجعوا عما أنتم فيه وتوبوا إليه من قريب، فإنه من تاب إليه تاب عليه، ولو كانت ذنوبه مهما كانت في الكفر والشرك ... (مدرارا) أي: متواصلة الأمطار، ولهذا تستحب قراءة هذه السورة في صلاة الاستسقاء لأجل هذه الآية، وهكذا روي عن أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب أنه صعد المنبر ليستسقي، فلم يزد على الاستغفار، وقرأ الآيات في الاستغفار.
2. Wealth, Children, Gardens and Rivers | ويمددكم بأموال وبنين
The promise continues: supply you with wealth and children, and give you gardens as well as rivers (71:12). Ibn Kathir explains: if you repent to Allah, seek His forgiveness and obey Him, He increases your provision, gives you to drink of the blessings of the sky, grows for you the blessings of the earth, crops and milk, gives you wealth and children, and makes for you gardens of every fruit with rivers running between them.
وَيُمْدِدْكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ أَنْهَارًا (سورة نوح: 12)
قال تعالى: (ويمددكم بأموال وبنين ويجعل لكم جنات ويجعل لكم أنهارا) (نوح 71: 12)، قال ابن كثير: أي: إذا تبتم إلى الله واستغفرتموه وأطعتموه، كثر الرزق عليكم، وأسقاكم من بركات السماء، وأنبت لكم من بركات الأرض، وأنبت لكم الزرع، وأدر لكم الضرع، وأمدكم بأموال وبنين ... وجعل لكم جنات فيها أنواع الثمار، وخللها بالأنهار الجارية بينها.
3. A Good Provision for an Appointed Term | يمتعكم متاعا حسنا
And seek your Lord’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. He will grant you a good provision for an appointed term and graciously reward the doers of good (11:3). Ibn Kathir explains: seek forgiveness for past sins, repent of them in what is to come, and keep to that; the good provision is in this world, and the reward of each doer of good is in the Hereafter, as Qatadah said. Allah’s forgiveness is explained in the Name Al-Ghaffaar, the Most Forgiving.
وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُم مَّتَاعًا حَسَنًا إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِي فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُ (سورة هود: 3)
قال تعالى: (وأن استغفروا ربكم ثم توبوا إليه يمتعكم متاعا حسنا إلى أجل مسمى ويؤت كل ذي فضل فضله) (هود 11: 3)، قال ابن كثير: أي: وآمركم بالاستغفار من الذنوب السالفة والتوبة منها إلى الله عز وجل فيما تستقبلونه، وأن تستمروا على ذلك، (يمتعكم متاعا حسنا) أي: في الدنيا ... (ويؤت كل ذي فضل فضله) أي: في الدار الآخرة، قاله قتادة.
4. A Safeguard From Punishment | وما كان الله معذبهم وهم يستغفرون
But Allah would never punish them while you were in their midst. Nor would He ever punish them if they prayed for forgiveness (8:33). Ibn Kathir relates that Ibn Abbas said: There were two safeguards among them, the Prophet and seeking forgiveness; the Prophet has gone and seeking forgiveness remains. The Prophet himself said: By Allah, I seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him more than seventy times a day (Sahih al-Bukhari 6307). See the conditions for Allah to accept someone’s repentance.
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ (سورة الأنفال: 33)
قال تعالى: (وما كان الله ليعذبهم وأنت فيهم وما كان الله معذبهم وهم يستغفرون) (الأنفال 8: 33)، قال ابن كثير: قال ابن عباس: كان فيهم أمانان: النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم والاستغفار، فذهب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وبقي الاستغفار. وقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: "والله إني لأستغفر الله وأتوب إليه في اليوم أكثر من سبعين مرة" (صحيح البخاري 6307).
Scholarly Insight: The Prophet named the best words of seeking forgiveness, beginning: O Allah, You are my Lord, none has the right to be worshipped but You; You created me and I am Your servant; and he said that whoever says them in the day with firm faith and dies before evening is among the people of Paradise (Sahih al-Bukhari 6306). Read more in the tafsir of Surah Nuh.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
What are the benefits of seeking forgiveness?
Allah sends abundant rain, supplies wealth and children, and gives gardens and rivers (71:10-12).
Does seeking forgiveness bring a good life?
Yes. Seek your Lord’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance; He will grant you a good provision for an appointed term (11:3).
Does seeking forgiveness protect from punishment?
Allah says: Nor would He ever punish them if they prayed for forgiveness (8:33); Ibn Abbas said it remains a safeguard after the Prophet.
How often did the Prophet seek forgiveness?
More than seventy times a day, as he said himself (Sahih al-Bukhari 6307).
Prepared by Eng. Ghada Homad, founder of IslamFAQ, researched and written in consultation with qualified scholars, reviewed by Professor Khaled Jassem Al-Houli, Associate Professor of Comparative Jurisprudence and Islamic Politics, Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies, University of Kuwait. Read more about the authors and this project →