The 365 · Sunnah · Day 44 · Prayer
Reciting the Prophetic Duʿāʾ When Standing for Night Prayer
The hadith
اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ، أَنْتَ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ، وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ، أَنْتَ قَيُّمُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ، وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ، أَنْتَ الْحَقُّ، وَوَعْدُكَ الْحَقُّ، وَلِقَاؤُكَ حَقٌّ، وَقَوْلُكَ حَقٌّ، وَالْجَنَّةُ حَقٌّ، وَالنَّارُ حَقٌّ، وَالنَّبِيُّونَ حَقٌّ، وَمُحَمَّدٌ ﷺ حَقٌّ، وَالسَّاعَةُ حَقٌّ
Ibn ʿAbbās ra. narrated: 'When the Prophet ﷺ would stand for night prayer (tahajjud), he would say: O Allah, to You belongs all praise. You are the light of the heavens and the earth and whatever is in them. To You belongs all praise. You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and whatever is in them. To You belongs all praise. You are the Truth, Your promise is the truth, the meeting with You is the truth, Your speech is the truth, Paradise is the truth, the Fire is the truth, the prophets are the truth, Muḥammad ﷺ is the truth, and the Hour is the truth.' (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1120, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 769.) The frequency: every tahajjud.
Svenska: Ibn 'Abbas ra. berättade om Profetens ﷺ inledande du'a för natten bönen.
The story
Ibn ʿAbbās stayed overnight at the home of his maternal aunt Maymūnah ra., a wife of the Prophet ﷺ, specifically to observe his night prayer. He preserved this duʿāʾ from his observation. The hadith is among the longest narrations from Ibn ʿAbbās, who was a child at the time but had remarkable memory. The duʿāʾ has been recited by Muslims in tahajjud since.
Why it's here
The duʿāʾ is the Prophet's ﷺ opening recitation when he stood for tahajjud. It is one of the longest documented opening duʿāʾs in the Sunnah, and one of the richest in theological content: it names Allah's light, His sustenance, His truth, the truth of His promise, the truth of the meeting, the truth of Paradise and Hell, the truth of the prophets, the truth of the Hour. Reciting it at the start of tahajjud anchors the night prayer in a comprehensive theological foundation.
Try it today
1. Memorize the duʿāʾ in Arabic (about 90 seconds to recite). 2. Recite it at the start of every tahajjud. 3. If too long for a particular night, recite a shortened version with the key phrases (tahmīd, the truth of meeting Allah, the truth of the Hour).
In your day
Most modern Muslims, when they pray tahajjud, jump directly to the rakʿahs without an opening duʿāʾ. The Prophet's ﷺ practice was to begin with this rich theological declaration. Recover the practice. The 90 seconds at the start changes the whole prayer.
A reflection to carry
The duʿāʾ of qiyām al-layl: the Prophet's ﷺ specific opening duʿāʾ when rising for night prayer. 'Allāhumma laka al-ḥamd, anta nūru as-samāwāti wa-l-arḍ wa-man fīhinn...' (Bukhārī 1120.)
Read the longer reflection
The full duʿāʾ is one of the longest preserved opening-duʿāʾs; it praises Allah by named attributes (nūr of heavens-and-earth, qayyim, malik) and asks for protection and acceptance. The Prophet ﷺ would recite it before beginning his night prayer. Cure: memorize portions of the duʿāʾ; recite when waking for tahajjud; if not memorized, recite the spirit of the duʿāʾ in your own language. The structural pattern: open the night prayer with named-praise of Allah; the prayer's quality elevates with the foundational duʿāʾ-anchoring. Modern shortcuts skip the opening duʿāʾ; the Sunnah-completeness includes this structural opening.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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