‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) got up to pray, he would say: “I have turned my face in complete devotion to the One Who created the heavens and the earth, and I am not one of the polytheists. Verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds; there is no partner with Him and this is what I have been commanded (to profess and believe) and I am of the Muslims. O Allah, You are the Sovereign, there is no god but You. You are my Lord and I am Your slave. I have wronged myself and I have admitted my sin, so forgive all my sins, for no one forgives sins but You. Guide me to the best of morals for none can guide to them but You, and deliver me from the worst of morals for none can deliver me from them but You. Here I am, in answer to Your call, happy to serve You. All good is within Your hands and evil does not stem from You. I exist by You and I turn to You. Blessed and Exalted. I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You.” When he bowed, he would say: “O Allah, it is for You that I bowed, it is in You that I believed, and it is to You that I submitted. Humbled to You are my hearing, my eyesight, my mind, my bones, and my tendons.” When he rose from bowing, he would say: “O Allah, our Lord, praise is due to You, (praise) that fills the heavens and the earth, that fills what exists between them, and that fills anything You desire afterward.” When he prostrated himself, he would say: “O Allah, it is to You that I prostrated myself, it is in You that I affirmed my faith, and it is to You that I submitted. My face has prostrated to the One who created it and shaped it and split open its faculties of hearing and seeing. Blessed is Allah, the best of Creators.” Then, one of the last things he would say between the Tashahhud and Taslīm is: “O Allah, forgive my past and future sins, my hidden and apparent sins, my transgression, and the sins that You know of more than I do. You are the One who puts forward and the One who holds back. There is no god but You.”
Explanation
When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) got up for prayer, he would say: “I have turned my face to the One who created the heavens and the earth,” meaning that I direct my worship to Allah, I devote my worship to Allah who created the heavens and the earth without precedent, and I turn away from any other than Him. The One who originated all these creatures with such creativity and precision truly deserves that all faces turn to Him, and all hearts rely on Him in all their states; turning not to other than Him, and hoping for nothing but His perpetual contentment and grace. “…in complete devotion and I am not one of the polytheists” meaning that I am leaning away from all false religions and inclining towards the true religion; Islam, and remaining firm upon it. Among the Arabs, Islam prevailed over everyone who was following the religion of Ibrahīm (peace be upon him). Then he said: “Verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds; there is no partner with Him and this is what I have been commanded (to profess and believe) and I am of the Muslims,” meaning that my prayer, my worship, and my efforts to draw closer are all devoted to Allah. I do not have partners alongside Him. Likewise is my life and my death; Allah is the One who created and decreed them, and no one but Him disposes of them. There is no partner with Him in His essence, His attributes, and His actions. My Lord commanded me to worship Him alone with such devotion, and I am of the believers who yield and submit to Him, Exalted is He. Then he said: “O Allah, You are the Sovereign; there is no god but You. You are my Lord, and I am Your slave. I have wronged myself and I have admitted my sin, so forgive all my sins, for no one forgives sins but You,” meaning, O Allah, You are the King and there is no king but You; and verily, there is no sovereignty for anyone but You. You alone possess Divinity, and there is no god but but You. You are my Lord and I am Your slave; I have wronged myself by being unmindful of You and by committing sins and acts of disobedience. I have acknowledged my sins, so forgive them for me, because no one forgives sins but You. You are the Oft-Forgiving and the Superb Forgiver. Then he said: “Guide me to the best of morals for none can guide to them but You, and deliver me from the worst of morals for none can deliver me from them but You,” meaning, show me the way, grant me steadfastness, and help me attain the best conduct in your worship and all other good conduct, what is open and what is secret in them, for You are the One who guides to them and there is no other guide than You. Keep me away and protect me from bad conduct, because no one can keep me away and protect me from it but You. Then he said: “Here I am, in answer to Your call, happy to serve You”; meaning that I am ever obedient to You, and I am always glad to hold fast to worshiping You and to answering Your call. Then he said: “All good is within Your hands,” meaning that all good is in Your disposition (of affairs). You are the Possessor of all goodness and You dispose of it the way You will. “…and evil does not stem from You,” meaning that evil does not lie in Your actions; it only lies in what You created but not in Your actions, Exalted are You. Evil is not attributed to Allah in any way, not in His essence, His attributes, His actions or His names. His essence is absolutely perfect in all aspects. His attributes are those of perfection for which He is praised and lauded. His actions are all good, merciful, just, wise, and totally devoid of evil. And His names are all beautiful; so how can evil be attributed to Him? Rather, evil is in what He created, and He is detached from it. There is a distinction between His actions and His creation; His action is all good, but the creation comprises both good and evil. If evil is a separate stand-alone creation, it is not attributed to Him. There is no supportive argument in this for the Mu‘tazilite claim that Allah did not create evil. Allah created good and evil and He created all things, Exalted may He be. “I exist by You and I turn to You,” meaning that I seek refuge in You, I rely on You, I take shelter with You, I undertake everything with Your help, and I turn to You; or, I worship You alone and my affairs lie with You alone. You are the start and You are the destination. It was also said that it means I seek Your help and I turn to You. “Blessed and exalted may You be,” meaning may You be glorified and lauded, may Your graces multiply, and may You be exalted far above what imaginations fancy and what minds conceptualize. Exalted are You above every deficiency and flaw. “I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You,” meaning that I ask forgiveness for my past sins, and I refrain from sinning in what is left of my life, turning to You to grant me success and steadfastness until the day I die. When he bowed, he would say: “O Allah, it is for You that I bowed, it is in You that I believed, and it is to You that I submitted. Humbled to You are my hearing, my eyesight, my mind, my bones, and my tendons,” meaning that my bowing is devoted to You alone. I have believed in You and submitted to You. All my body – my hearing, sight, mind, bones and tendons – humbly follow Your command. When he rose from bowing, he would say: “O Allah, our Lord, praise is due to You, (praise) that fills the heavens and the earth, that fills what exists between them, and that fills anything You desire afterward,” meaning that I praise You with an amount of praise that, if it were tangible, it would fill the heavens and the earth and whatever You wish it to fill of Your creation after filling the heavens and the earth. When he prostrated himself, he would say: “O Allah, it is to You that I prostrated myself, it is in You that I affirmed my faith, and it is to You that I submitted. My face has prostrated to the One who created it, shaped it and split open its faculties of hearing and seeing. Blessed is Allah, the best of Creators,” meaning that my prostration is to You alone, sincerely devoted to You. I have believed in You, yielded to You, and all my senses, which You created and shaped, humbly follow Your command. Blessed is Allah, the best of Creators. Then, one of the last things he would say between the Tashahhud and Taslīm is: “O Allah, forgive my past and future sins, my hidden and apparent sins, my transgression, and the sins that You know of more than I do. You are the One who puts forward and the One who holds back. There is no deity worthy of worship but You,” meaning forgive my early and my later sins; as if he is saying: forgive the old and the new sins. “…my hidden and apparent sins,” meaning forgive the sins that I kept secret and those that I made public, or the sins I thought about inside my head and those that my tongue spoke of. “…my transgression,” meaning the sins and acts of disobedience that I went too far in. “…and the sins that You know of more than I do,” meaning forgive my sins that I do not know about. “You are the One who puts forward and the One who holds back,” meaning that You advance whomever You will in worship and obedience and You hold back whomever You will from that, as Your wisdom dictates. You grant honor to whoever You will and You cause humiliation to whoever You will. “There is no god but You,” meaning that there is no god who truly deserves to be worshiped but You.
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