Comment on the du‘aa’, “I strove hard to conceal my sins, and You strove hard, my Lord, in concealing me”
Question

                I used to recite a du‘aa’, but my friends told me that this du‘aa’ is haraam. I would like to find out whether it is haraam or not: “I strove hard to conceal my sins, and You strove hard, my Lord, in concealing me”.
Praise be to Allah.
    By His bounty towards the Muslim, Allah has made the matter 
    of du‘aa’ broad in scope. There are du‘aa’s in the Qur’aan, du‘aa’s of the 
    Prophets and Messengers, that are few in words but great in meaning. And 
    there are du‘aa’s in the Sunnah, du‘aa’s of the Prophet (blessings and peace 
    of Allah be upon him). And there are also du‘aa’s of the noble Sahaabah, 
    Taabi‘een, scholars and righteous people, which have been compiled in many 
    books and are also to be found in their biographies. We do not think there 
    is any need for anyone to come along and make up phrases for calling upon 
    his Lord, and not be content with keeping them between him and his Lord 
    until he spreads them among people on web sites and elsewhere. The one who 
    browses websites will find a great deal of such material, most of which is 
    questionable.  The reason for that is that those who originally wrote these 
    things were not scholars or seekers of knowledge. 

    One example of what we are talking about is something that is 
    widespread on many web sites, a du‘aa’ that contains clear exaggeration and 
    some phrases that is extremely abhorrent and distasteful. It is the du‘aa’ 
    mentioned by the questioner. Its mistakes are twofold: 

    1.Using the same word referring 
    to the striving of the created being in committing sin and the striving of 
    the Lord, the Creator, the All-Forgiving. This is something that it is not 
    befitting for the one who is calling upon his Lord to do, and it is 
    disrespectful towards Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.

    2.It ascribes “striving” to 
    Allah, may He be exalted! This is a word that it is abhorrent to attribute 
    to the Lord, may He be exalted. This word is indicative of expending effort 
    and energy, which is impossible in the case of Allah, may He be exalted, Who 
    told us that He created the heavens and the earth and everything in between 
    and no fatigue or tiredness touched Him. Allah, may He be exalted, said 
    (interpretation of the meaning): “And indeed We created the heavens and 
    the earth and all between them in six Days and nothing of fatigue touched 
    Us” [Qaaf 50:38]. This clearly states that there is no tiredness or 
    fatigue on the part of Allah, may He be exalted, at all. Rather He mentioned 
    it here, after He created the heavens and the earth and everything in 
    between them, so as to dispel any confusion and refute those among the Jews 
    who attributed that to Him. This negation of tiredness and fatigue is 
    indicative of the perfection of His power, may He be glorified and exalted.

    Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have 
    mercy on him) said: It should be noted that when it is said that Allah does 
    not possess an attribute, it is not only a negation; rather as well as the 
    negation, what is meant is the opposite. So when Allah, may He be exalted, 
    said of Himself (interpretation of the meaning): “and nothing of fatigue 
    touched Us”, what is meant is a negation of fatigue and an affirmation 
    of the perfection of His might and power.

    End quote from Tafseer Soorat al-Baqarah, 2/132 

    If it were correct to say of a sinful person that he “strove” 
    in committing sin, how can a person be content to say of his Lord, may He be 
    exalted, that He “strove” in concealing it when He – may He be exalted – is 
    able to conceal it and, rather, to forgive it and replace it with good deeds 
    (hasanaat) with one word, “Be!” This is not permissible; rather it is 
    haraam, and it is not permissible for anyone to speak of his Lord in a 
    manner that is suggestive of shortcomings or that is far removed from the 
    proper etiquette that must be observed before Him, may He be glorified. 

    What the Muslim must do is refrain from using this phrase in 
    his du‘aa’ and beware of spreading it. Websites must also erase this 
    sentence from their pages and not incur sin by spreading it. 

    And Allah knows best.