Allah describes the Muttaqin, His pious servants, whom He promised tremendous rewards,
iThose who say: " Our Lord! We Iwve indeed believed' y
in You, Your Book and Your Messenger.
4.S0 forgive us our sins } because of our faith in You and in what You legislated for us. Therefore, forgive us our errors and shortcomings, with Your bounty and mercy,
iatid save us from the punishment of the Fire .}
Allah then said,
4 (They are) those who are patient
while performing acts of obedience and abandoning the prohibitions.
ithose who are true} concerning their proclamation of faith, by performing the difficult deeds.
ianci obedient } meaning, they submit and obey Allah,
0wse who spend} from their wealth on all the acts of obedience they were commanded, being kind to kith and kin, helping the needy, and comforting the destitute.
iand those who pray and beg Allah's pardon in the last hours of the night}
and this testifies to the virtue of seeking Allah’s forgiveness in the latter part of the night. It was reported that when Ya'qub said to his children,
41 ivill ask my Lord for forgiveness for you} [12:98] he waited until the latter part of the night to say his supplication.
Furthermore, the Two Sahihs, the Musnad and Sunan collections recorded through several Companions that the Messenger of Allah said,
“ Every night, when the last third of it remains, our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, descends to the lowest heaven saying, 'Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to his invocation? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?' ”
The Two Sahihs recorded that \‘Aishah said, “The Messenger of Allah performed Witr during the first part, the middle and the latter parts of the night. Then, later (in his life), he would perform it (only) during the latter part.”
‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar would pray during the night and ask, “O Nafi‘! Is it the latter part of the night yet?” and if Nafi‘ said, “Yes,” ‘Umar would start supplicating to Allah and seeking His forgiveness until dawn. This Hadith was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim.