How can one repent from showing off (riya') when admiring someone, and the subsequent questions about how to appear presentable, speak beautifully, and show affection to others, especially since this has persisted for 12 years? Is seeking forgiveness (istighfar) sufficient to expiate this sin if one returns to it? Does the verse: "Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives anything less than that for whoever He wills" apply to hidden shirk? Is there a specific supplication (du'a) or daily litany (wird) that helps with repentance?

A person's desire to be seen by people in a good light or to speak well is not hypocrisy (riya'). As for repentance from hypocrisy, it is achieved through regret, abandoning the sin, and resolving not to return to it. Repentance while persisting in sin is not valid. However, returning to a sin after sincere repentance does not nullify the first repentance.

Attachment to a person and continuous thinking about them is forbidden love (ishq muharram).

Regarding the verse: "Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills," there is a disagreement among scholars whether it includes minor shirk. Some believe that it is forgiven like other sins, while others believe that it is not forgiven, but its perpetrator dies as a Muslim and is punished for it, then enters Paradise.

It is recommended to consistently recite: "There is no god but Allah alone, without partner; to Him belongs all sovereignty, and to Him belongs all praise, and He is over all things competent," one hundred times daily, as it is a safeguard from Satan.