A man once came to al-Hasan al-Basri and
complained to him: “The sky does not shower us
with rain.” He replied: “Seek Allah’s forgiveness (i.e.
say ﻪﻠﻟﺃ ﺮﻔﻐﺘﺳﺃ).” Then another person came to him and said, “I
complain of poverty.” He replied: “Seek Allah’s
forgiveness." Then another person came to him and complained,
“My wife is barren; she cannot bear children.” He
replied: “Seek Allah’s forgiveness." The people who were present, said to al-Hasan:
“Everytime a person came to you complaining, you
instructed them to seek Allah’s forgiveness?” Al-Hasan al-Basri said, “Have you not read the
statement of Allah? 'I said "Ask forgiveness of your
Lord. Truly He is Oft-Forgiving. He will send rain to
you in abundance; increase you in wealth and
children; grant you gardens and bestow on you
rivers."'" [Nuh (71):10-12] There are two things in the earth that give a
person safety and security from the punishment of
Allah. The first has been removed, whilst the
second still remains. As for the first, it was the
Messenger of Allah (ﻢﻠﺳ ﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺃ ﻲﻠﺻ). “Allah would not punish them while you were
among them.” [al-Anfal (:33] As for the second, it is istighfar. “Allah would not
punish them as long as they sought
forgiveness.” [al-Anfal (:33] ﻪﻠﻟﺃ ﺮﻔﻐﺘﺳﺃ ...ﻪﻠﻟﺃ ﺮﻔﻐﺘﺳﺃ ...ﻪﻠﻟﺃ ﺮﻔﻐﺘﺳﺃ... Do not ever leave istighfar!