On Mounting One’s Beast of Burden

ʿAlī ibn Rabīʿah said, “I was present when ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah ennoble his face — was brought a riding animal. When he placed his foot in the stirrup he said, ‘In the name of Allah.’ Once he was firmly seated on its back he said, ‘All praise is due to Allah,’ and then recited, ‘Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us, for we could never have mastered it on our own, and surely to our Lord we shall return’ (al-Zukhruf 43:13). After that he said, ‘All praise is due to Allah’ three times, followed by ‘Allah is greater’ three times. He then said, ‘Glory be to You. O Allah, I have wronged myself, so forgive me, for no one forgives sins but You.’ Then he laughed. Someone asked him, ‘Commander of the Believers, what made you laugh?’ He replied, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do exactly what I have just done and then laugh, so I asked, “Messenger of Allah, what made you laugh?” He said, “Your Lord — Exalted and Majestic is He — is pleased with His servant when the servant says, ‘Lord, forgive my sins,’ knowing that no one forgives sins but Me.”’”

Abu Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and al-Tirmidhī narrated this report, and al-Tirmidhī deemed it “sound and authentic (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).”

Muslim also recorded from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar — may Allah be pleased with them both — that “when the Prophet ﷺ had mounted his camel to set out on a journey, he would pronounce the takbīr three times and then recite, ‘Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us … and surely to our Lord we shall return’ (al-Zukhruf 43:13). He would then supplicate: ‘O Allah, we ask You during this journey of ours for righteousness and piety, and for deeds…’