The Prophet ﷺ tells us where the great reckoning begins. The first of a servant's deeds to be examined on the Day of Judgement is the prayer: if it is found sound, he has succeeded; and if it is found wanting, he has failed and lost. And Allah will tell the angels to look for any voluntary prayers to complete what is missing from the obligatory.
Where this hadith comes from
This is a hadith qudsi: the Prophet (peace be upon him) reports the very words of Allah, words outside the Qur'an. Here Allah tells us where the great reckoning begins, that the first of a servant's deeds to be examined on the Day of Judgement is the prayer.
It is narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and recorded by at-Tirmidhi and others. It speaks to creed and to the purification of the heart, the prayer as the measure of our bond with Allah, so we stay with that meaning and leave the detail of how the prayer is performed to the scholars.
The key words
What it means, line by line
The first deed weighed is the prayer: if it is found sound, the servant has prospered and succeeded; if it is found wanting, he has failed and lost. The prayer is judged first because it is the daily, repeated measure of a person's relationship with Allah, and the rest of the record tends to follow its state.
Then comes the mercy. When the obligatory prayers fall short, Allah commands the angels to look for the servant's voluntary prayers and complete the shortfall with them, and the rest of his deeds are reckoned the same way. The Qur'an names this same trait, the careful guarding of the prayers, as the crown of the believer's character and the path to the highest Paradise.
The prayer sets the tone for the record
Of all the deeds, the prayer is judged first, because it is the daily measure of a person's bond with Allah. If the prayer is in order, it signals a life in order, and the rest of the deeds tend to follow. If the prayer has been neglected, it casts a shadow over everything after it. Guard the prayer, and you have guarded the keystone of the whole record.
The mercy of the voluntary
Then comes the mercy: when the obligatory prayers are found deficient, Allah commands that the servant's voluntary prayers be used to make up the shortfall. None of us prays the obligatory perfectly; the nawafil are the cushion that covers our gaps. This is why the people who love Allah add extra prayers, not to show off, but to build a reserve of mercy for the Day their obligatory record is weighed.
Carry this with you
Guard the prayer; it is judged first, and it carries the rest.
The prayer is judged first.
It is the daily measure of your bond with Allah, and it sets the tone for the whole record.
Sound prayer, sound record.
If the prayer is in order, the rest tends to follow; if neglected, it shadows everything.
Voluntary prayers are a cushion.
Allah uses the nawafil to repair the shortfall in the obligatory. Build the reserve now.
Pray it present.
On time, unhurried, attentive. The keystone deserves your full attention.
A du'a to carry
رَبِّ ٱجْعَلْنِى مُقِيمَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِى ۚ رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَآءِ
Rabbi-j'alni muqima s-salati wa min dhurriyyati, Rabbana wa taqabbal du'a
My Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and [many] from my descendants. Our Lord, and accept my supplication. (Ibrahim 14:40)
A du'a for the prayer
The first question at the great reckoning is about the prayer, so it deserves to be the first priority of our days. Guard it, beautify it, and build a quiet reserve of extra prayers beside it.
O Allah, make us of those who establish the prayer and our families with us. Make our prayers sound, complete our shortfalls with what we offer freely, and accept our supplication. Ameen.
The hadith qudsi is from sunnah.com: 'The first of his actions for which a servant will be brought to account is the prayer...' narrated by Abu Hurayrah (ra), recorded by at-Tirmidhi and others. The supporting Qur'an (14:40) is in Uthmani script verified via quran.ai (ar-uthmani-minimal) with the Saheeh International translation. Per the editorial policy this stays with the spiritual meaning (the centrality of prayer and the mercy of the voluntary). FOR SCHOLAR REVIEW before publication.