the sunnah especially enjoins supplication at both. Among these supplications is the one narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Abu Bakr al-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), who said to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), “Teach me a supplication that I may say in my prayer.” He said, “Say: O Allah, I have greatly wronged myself, and none forgives sins but You. So bestow upon me forgiveness from You and have mercy on me. Indeed, You are the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”1.

Another is the report narrated by al-Nasā’ī from Atā ibn al-Sā’ib, from his father (may Allah be pleased with him), who said, “Ammār ibn Yāsir (may Allah be pleased with him) led us in prayer and kept it brief. Some of the people said to him, ‘You certainly made the prayer light—or kept it brief.’ He replied, ‘Even so, I offered in it supplications that I heard from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).’ When he rose to leave, a man from among the people followed him—that man was my father, though he referred to himself indirectly—and asked him about the supplication. He then returned and told the people what it was:

“O Allah, by Your knowledge of the unseen and Your power over creation, keep me alive for as long as You know life to be better for me, and cause me to die when You know death to be better for me. O Allah, I ask You to grant me fear of You in private and in public. I ask You to enable me to speak the truth whether content or angry. I ask You for moderation in poverty and wealth. I ask You for bliss that never ends and joy that never ceases. I ask You for contentment after Your decree has come to pass, the comfort of life after death, the delight of looking upon Your Face, and yearning to meet You, without harmful adversity or a trial that leads astray. O Allah, adorn us with the beauty of faith and make us guides who are themselves rightly guided.”2.