equal in duration.” (1) Some have understood this to mean that his bowing and prostration lasted as long as his standing, and that his standing upright after bowing did likewise.

This understanding is questionable, for he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would recite around a hundred verses in the dawn prayer. It has already been mentioned that he recited Surahs al-A‘rāf, al-Tūr, and al-Mursalāt in the sunset prayer, and it is well known that his bowing and prostration did not last as long as these recitations. This is supported by the hadith of Anas reported by the compilers of the Sunan collections (2), in which he said: “Since the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, I have never prayed behind anyone whose prayer resembled his more closely than this young man’s”—meaning ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz. He said: “We estimated that his bowing lasted long enough to glorify Allah ten times, and his prostration likewise.” This was so despite Anas’s statement (3) that he would lead them in prayer reciting Surah al-Sāffāt.

What al-Barā’ meant—and Allah knows best—was that the Prophet’s prayer, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was balanced: when he prolonged the standing, he prolonged the bowing and prostration; and when he shortened the standing, he shortened the bowing and prostration. Sometimes he would make the bowing and prostration as long as the standing, but he did this only occasionally when praying alone at night. He also did something approaching this in the eclipse prayer. His usual practice, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was to keep the prayer balanced and its parts proportionate.

While bowing, he would also say: “You are free of all imperfection, Most Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit” (4),