his prayer.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, and how does one steal from his prayer?” He replied, “By failing to perfect its bowing and its prostration.” On one occasion he was praying and, with the corner of his eye, noticed a man who was not straightening his spine in bowing and prostration. When he finished, he said, “O community of Muslims, there is no prayer for the one who does not straighten his spine in bowing and prostration.” In another ḥadith he said, “A man’s prayer is not valid until he straightens his back in bowing and prostration.” ⦗640–648⦘

Invocations in bowing
In this pillar he would recite various remembrances and supplications, using one or another of the following:

1. “Subḥāna Rabbiyal-ʿAẓīm” (Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great) — three times. At times he repeated it more than that, and once during the night prayer he prolonged it until his bowing was almost as long as his standing. In that standing he recited three of the long surahs—al-Baqarah, al-Nisāʾ, and Āl ʿImrān—interspersing them with supplication and seeking forgiveness, as mentioned earlier under “Night Prayer.”

2. “Subḥāna Rabbiyal-ʿAẓīm wa bi-ḥamdih” (Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great, and praise is His) — three times.

3. “Subbūḥ, Quddūs, Rabb al-malāʾikati wa’r-rūḥ” (Most Glorified, Most Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit).

4. “Subḥānaka-llāhumma, Rabbana, wa bi-ḥamdik. Allāhumma-ghfir lī” (Glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise is Yours. O Allah, forgive me). He often recited this in his bowing and his prostration, acting upon the Qur’an.

5. “Allāhumma, laka rakʿtu, wa bika āmantu, wa laka aslamtu; anta Rabbī; khashaʿa laka samʿī wa baṣarī, wa muḫḫī wa ʿaẓmī—in another wording: wa ʿiẓāmī—wa ʿaṣabī, wa mā istaqallat bihi qadamī; li-llāhi Rabbi’l-ʿālamīn.” (O Allah, to You I have bowed, in You I believe, to You I submit; You are my Lord. My hearing and my sight, my mind, my bones—in another narration: my bones—and my nerves, and whatever my feet have borne are humbled before Allah, Lord of the worlds.)

6. “Allāhumma, laka rakʿtu, wa bika āmantu, wa laka aslamtu, wa ʿalayka tawakkaltu. Anta Rabbī. Khashaʿa samʿī wa baṣarī, wa damī wa laḥmī, wa ʿaẓmī wa ʿaṣabī; li-llāhi Rabbi’l-ʿālamīn.” (O Allah, to You I have bowed, in You I believe, to You I submit, upon You I rely. You are my Lord. My hearing and my sight, my blood and my flesh, my bones and my nerves are humbled before Allah, Lord of the worlds.)

7. “Subḥāna dhī’l-jabarūt wa’l-malakūt wa’l-kibriyāʾ wa’l-ʿaẓamah” (Glorified is the Possessor of might and dominion, of majesty and greatness). He said this in the night prayer. ⦗649–666⦘

Lengthening the bowing
The Prophet ﷺ would make his bowing, his standing after bowing, his prostration, and the sitting between the two prostrations roughly equal in duration. ⦗667–668⦘