If someone were to say: “I find that I am more humble in prayer when I close my eyes. Would you then advise me to close them?”

The answer is: No, because the humility you attain by doing something disliked is from Satan. It is like the humility of the Sufis in the devotional invocations through which they worship Allah, even though they are an innovation. Satan may leave your heart alone when you close your eyes and refrain from whispering to you, in order to make you fall into what is disliked. So we say: Open your eyes and strive to attain humility in your prayer.

As for closing your eyes without a reason in order to attain humility, then no; for this is from Satan.

He then says: “Glory be to You, O Allah, and all praise is Yours. Blessed is Your Name, exalted is Your Majesty, and there is no god besides You.”

His statement, “He then says,” means: after the preceding takbir, placing the hands, and so on: “Glory be to You, O Allah, and all praise is Yours.” This is a phrase that combines declaring Allah free of imperfection and affirming His perfection.

It includes declaring Him free of imperfection in the words, “Glory be to You, O Allah,” and affirmation in the words, “and all praise is Yours,” because praise is to describe the one praised as possessing perfection, while loving and venerating him. These two phrases therefore combine declaring Allah free of imperfection and affirming His perfection.

The word “subhanaka” is a verbal noun derived from sabbaha (“to declare free of imperfection”); the regular verbal noun is tasbih, whereas subhan is a substitute verbal noun. It is always in the accusative as an absolute object, with its governing verb omitted, and it is annexed. It thus involves three points:

First: it is always in the accusative as an absolute object.

Second: its governing verb is always omitted.

Third: it is always annexed.

Its meaning is: “I declare You, O Lord, free from every imperfection.” Imperfection is either