تاب
Tāba
To repent to God for sins and resolve not to repeat them; the verbal noun is tawba.
What it means
Tāba means to turn back, and in religion it means to turn back to God from sin. The noun is tawba. Faruqi describes it as repenting to God for one’s sins and committing oneself never to repeat them. Scholars name three conditions: to stop the sin, to feel regret, and to resolve not to return to it. If the sin wronged another person, the wrong must also be put right. The Quran invites everyone: “O you who believe, turn to God in sincere repentance” (66:8), and “Do not despair of God’s mercy; God forgives all sins” (39:53). God is called al-Tawwāb, the Ever-Returning, because He turns to the repentant in mercy.
Often misunderstood as
The English “repent” can suggest guilt and penance, while the Arabic stresses turning back to God and His readiness to accept the return.
What the sources say
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that God stretches out His hand by night to accept the repentance of the one who sinned by day, and by day for the one who sinned by night, until the sun rises from the west (Sahih Muslim). He himself asked God for forgiveness more than seventy times a day (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 26, listed as TĀBA. The definition is restated here.