• “In pure monotheism” (ḥanīfan): an adverbial accusative that means turning away from falsehood toward the true religion, Islam.
• “My rites” (nusukī): the word nusuk denotes worship—every act by which one seeks closeness to Allah. Its conjunction with “prayer” is an instance of mentioning the general after the specific.
• “My living and my dying”: that is, my deeds during life and at the moment of death; He alone owns and controls them. Either word may be read with the final yāʾ vocalised or left at rest, but the more common recitation vocalises the first and leaves the second at rest.
• “Labbayka wa saʿdayka” (“Here I am, ever ready and ever blessed”): I hasten to obey Your command, follow it with repeated obedience, and respond to You again and again, O Lord.
• “I depend on You and toward You I turn” (anā bika wa ilayk): my refuge and final return are to You, and my success is by Your enabling grace.
• “Blessed are You” (tabārakta): all goodness is firmly established with You and is abundant.
• “I have turned my face”: most recite it with the final yāʾ silent, though some vocalise it; the meaning is, I have directed my worship to You.
• “For Allah”: this preposition governs everything mentioned—prayer and sacrifice offered solely for His sake, and life and death in the sense that He is their Creator and Disposer, with none sharing any authority in them.
What is derived from the ḥadith
- The opening supplication (istiftāḥ) of the prayer, whether the prayer is obligatory or voluntary and whether the wording is remembrance or supplication, is said after the opening takbīr and before the taʿawwudh and recitation; it is confined to the first rakʿah.
- It is recommended, not obligatory, as indicated by the previously cited ḥadith of the man who prayed poorly.
- Several wordings for it have been transmitted. The best practice is to alternate among them so as to act on all the texts; limiting oneself to one wording is permissible. Shaykh al-Islām (Ibn Taymiyyah) said: It is recommended, with acts of worship that have variant reported forms, to perform each form separately—without combining them in a single instance and without adhering exclusively to one of them.
- The phrase “when he stood for prayer” means: once he has entered the prayer, he recites this remembrance.