His ﷺ Recitation of Additional Verses after al-Fātiḥah in the Final Two Rakʿahs
He used to make the last two rakʿahs about half as long as the first two—roughly fifteen verses—and sometimes he recited nothing in them except al-Fātiḥah.
He also instructed the man who prayed incorrectly to recite al-Fātiḥah in every rakʿah. After telling him to recite it in the first rakʿah he added, “Then do that throughout your entire prayer”—in another wording: “in every rakʿah.” ⦗467–470⦘
- The Late-Afternoon Prayer (ʿAṣr)
In the first two rakʿahs the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite al-Fātiḥah together with two additional sūrahs, stretching the first longer than the second. The Companions assumed he did that so people could still catch the rakʿah.
In each of those two he recited about fifteen verses—half of what he read in each of the first two rakʿahs of Ẓuhr.
He made the last two rakʿahs half the length of the first two, reciting only al-Fātiḥah in them. At times he let the congregation hear a verse, and he chose the same sūrahs already mentioned under the Ẓuhr prayer. ⦗471⦘
- The Sunset Prayer (Maghrib)
At times he ﷺ recited from the short mufassal sūrahs, such that when they prayed with him and he had given the salām, one of them could leave while still seeing where his arrow had landed.
On a journey he recited “By the fig and the olive” (95:8) in the second rakʿah.
Sometimes he chose from the long or medium mufassal sūrahs: on one occasion “Those who disbelieved and barred others from Allah’s path” (47:38); on another al-Tūr (52:49); and on another al-Mursalāt (77:50)—the last sūrah he ever recited in prayer.
On other occasions he recited the longer of the two “long ones,” al-Aʿrāf (7:206), in both rakʿahs, and sometimes al-Anfāl (8:75) in both. ⦗472–487⦘
Recitation in the Post-Maghrib Sunnah
As for the sunnah that follows Maghrib, he would recite “Say: O you who disbelieve” (109:6) and “Say: He is Allah, One” (112:4). ⦗488–489⦘