Six words that ask for something to come from one direction
Said inside the prayer, before the final peace.
اغْفِرْ لِي مِنْ عِنْدِكَ مَغْفِرَةً، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Ighfir lī min ʿindika maghfirah, innaka anta-l-ghafūru-r-raḥīm
“Forgive me with a forgiveness from You. You are the Forgiving, the Merciful.”
Where this comes from
Min ʿindika means out of Your own side, from where You are. It is not asking for the forgiveness that a record earns. It is asking for the kind that has no source but Him.
The full narration
Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr:Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said to the Prophet (ﷺ) "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Teach me an invocation with which I may invoke Allah in my prayers." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Say: O Allah! I have wronged my soul very much (oppressed myself), and none forgives the sins but You; so please bestow Your Forgiveness upon me. No doubt, You are the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 7387
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)