Salamah transmits from Abu Saʿid, and the portion traced back to the Prophet reads:

“Which one of you would like Allah to turn away from him?” He then said, “When any of you stands for prayer, Allah is before his face; so let him not spit in front of himself, nor to his right. Rather, he should spit to his left, under his left foot. If a sudden impulse overtakes him, let him do so with his garment like this”—he placed it over his mouth and then rubbed it in … the ḥadith.

Its documentation has already been given under the first etiquette section, in connection with the narration, “He saw phlegm on the qiblah wall of the mosque.”

2 – Abu al-Zubayr also relates it from him in an abridged form, without mentioning the cause, with the wording: “ … or beneath his left foot.” Ahmad recorded it. Its transmitters are the trustworthy narrators used by Muslim, so the chain is sound provided Abu al-Zubayr actually heard it from him.

Fifth: Ṭāriq ibn ʿAbd Allāh transmits it as a Prophetic ḥadith in the wording:

“When you pray, do not spit in front of you nor to your right; instead, spit toward your left. If that spot is vacant, otherwise beneath your feet, and rub it in.”

Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi, al-Tayalisi, and Ahmad all recorded it, and the wording is as cited.