It is recommended to offer the qunūt in Witr after rising from the bowing. Should one pronounce the takbīr, raise his hands, and then recite the qunūt before bowing, it remains valid. There is no objection to supplicating in the qunūt with whatever wording he prefers; among the transmitted formulas are:

“Allahumma ihdinā fīman hadayta, wa ʿāfinā fīman ʿāfayta, wa tawallānā fīman tawallayta, wa bārik lanā fīmā aʿṭayta, wa qinā sharra mā qaḍayta; innaka taqḍī wa lā yuqḍā ʿalayk; innahu lā yadhillu man wālait, wa lā yaʿizzu man ʿādayt; tabārakta Rabbānā wa taʿālayt”¹ (O Allah, guide us among those You have guided; grant us well-being among those You have granted well-being; take us into Your care among those You have taken into Your care; bless for us whatever You have given; and protect us from the evil of what You have decreed. Surely You decree and none can decree over You; none whom You befriend is humiliated, and none whom You oppose is honored. Blessed and exalted are You, our Lord),

and

“Allahumma innā naʿūdhu bi-riḍāka min sakhaṭik, wa bi-ʿafwika min ʿuqūbatik, wa bika minka; lā nuḥṣī thanāʾan ʿalayk, anta kamā athnayta ʿalā nafsik”² (O Allah, we seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, in Your pardon from Your punishment, and in You from You. We cannot encompass praise of You; You are as You have praised Yourself).

Thereafter he invokes blessings upon the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—³; the congregant responds with āmīn⁴, and he wipes his face with his hands, both here and outside the prayer.

Reciting qunūt in prayers other than Witr is disliked.

The most meritorious of the regular Sunnah prayers are: first, the two rakʿahs of Fajr, then those of Maghrib; the rest are of equal rank.

The confirmed rawātib⁵ are ten⁶: two rakʿahs before Zuhr, two after it, two after Maghrib, two after ʿIshāʾ, and two before Fajr.