226 – ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Awfā said: “A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, ‘I cannot manage to learn anything of the Quran. Teach me something that will suffice in its place.’ He replied, ‘Say: subḥāna Allah (Glory be to Allah), al-ḥamdu lillāh (praise be to Allah), lā ilāha illā Allah (there is no god but Allah), Allahu akbar (Allah is Most Great), and lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāhi al-ʿAliyyi al-ʿAẓīm (there is no power and no might except with Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent).’”
The ḥadith was recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasāʾī, and was declared sound by Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Dāraquṭnī, and al-Ḥākim (1).

Status of the ḥadith:
The report is ṣaḥīḥ according to the criteria of Muslim.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in al-Talkhīṣ: “It was narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn al-Jārūd (2/57), Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Ḥākim, and al-Dāraquṭnī—whose wording is cited here—from ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Awfā. It was authenticated by Ibn al-Sakan and al-Ḥākim, who said it meets the conditions of al-Bukhārī, and Ibn al-Mulaqqin agreed with him.”

Vocabulary of the ḥadith:
– subḥāna Allah: Linguistically, tasbīḥ means to declare transcendence (tanzīh). The word subḥān is in the accusative, functioning as a verbal noun for an omitted verb, the implied construction being “sabbaḥtu Allāha tasbīḥan” (“I glorify Allah with a glorification”). Tasbīḥ is the verbal noun, and subḥān stands in its place. Thus subḥāna Allah means declaring Him free of all defects, a declaration that also entails praise.