(It is sound, as already stated): he expressly instructed the man to praise and glorify Allah between the opening takbir and the Qur’an-recitation, and that is precisely the opening supplication (duʿa al-istiftah). Allah knows best. 2 – ʿAli ibn Abi Talib narrated: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began the prayer he pronounced the takbir and then said …” – and he mentioned it in full – “and when he bowed he said: Allahumma laka rakaʿtu, wa bika āmantu, wa laka aslamtu; khashaʿa laka samʿī wa basarī wa mukhkhī wa ʿaẓmī wa ʿaṣabī (O Allah, to You I have bowed; in You I believe; to You I submit; my hearing, my sight, my brain, my bones and my nerves have humbled themselves before You). When he raised his head from bowing he said: Samiʿa-llahu liman ḥamidah, rabbana wa laka-l-ḥamd milʾa s-samāwāti wa milʾa l-arāḍīn wa mā baynahumā wa milʾa mā shi’ta min shay’in baʿd (Allah hears the one who praises Him. Our Lord, to You belongs all praise: as much as fills the heavens, fills the earth, fills whatever lies between them, and fills whatever else You will besides). When he prostrated he said: Allahumma laka sajadtu, wa bika āmantu, wa laka aslamtu; sajada wajhī lilladhī khalaqahu wa ṣawwarahu fa-aḥsana ṣuwarah, wa shaqqa samʿahu wa baṣarahu; tabāraka-llahu aḥsanu-l-khāliqīn (O Allah, to You I have prostrated; in You I believe; to You I submit. My face has prostrated to the One who created it and shaped it, giving it the best form, and opened its hearing and sight. Blessed is Allah, the best of creators). When he ended the prayer with the salām he said: Allahumma-ghfir lī mā qaddamtu wa mā akhkhartu, wa mā asrartu wa mā aʿlantu, wa mā asraftu, wa mā anta aʿlamu bihi minnī; anta-l-muqaddim wa anta-l-mu’akhkhir; lā ilāha illā ant (O Allah, forgive me what I have sent ahead and what I have delayed, what I have concealed and what I have made public, what I have exceeded, and whatever You know better about me than myself. You are the One who brings forward and the One who defers; there is no god but You).” Reported by Muslim (2/185-186); also by Abu ʿAwanah (2/101, 168), Abu Dawud (1/121), al-Daraqutni (p. 111, with his wording), al-Tirmidhi (2/250-251), al-Bayhaqi (2/32), al-Tayalisi (no. 22), Ahmad (1/94, 102) and al-Khara’iti, Makārim al-Akhlāq, p. 6 – all through the chain of al-Majishun ibn Abi Salamah → ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Aʿraj → ʿUbayd Allah ibn Abi Rafiʿ → ʿAli. Al-Tirmidhi said: