Ibn Abbas (RA) reported that when the Messenger of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) got up during the night to pray, he used to say: O Allah, to Thee be the praise Thou art the light of the heavens and the earth. To Thee be the praise; Thou art the Supporter of the heavens and the earth. To Thee be the praise; Thou art the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is therein. Thou art the Truth; Thy promise is True, the meeting with Thee is True. Paradise is true, Hell is true, the Hour is true. O Allah, I submit to Thee; affirm my faith in Thee; repose my trust in Thee, and I return to Thee for repentance; by Thy help I have disputed; and to Thee I have come for decision, so forgive me my earlier and later sins, the sins that I committed in secret and openly. Thou art my God. There is no god but Thee.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas through another chain of transmitters and with slight alteration of two words. Instead of the word Qayyam (Supporter, as used in the above hadith here the word) Qayyim (the Custodian) has been used, and he (further said):" What I did in secret." And in the hadith narrated by Ibn 'Uyaina there is some addition.

This hadith has been narrated by Ibn 'Abbas by another chain of transmitters and the words are nearly the same (as recorded in the above-mentioned hadith).

'Abdul Rahman bin ' Auf (RA) reported: I asked 'A'isha, the mother of the believers, (to tell me) the words with which the Apostle of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) commenced the prayer when he got up at night. She said: When he got up at night he would commence his prayer with these words: O Allah, Lord of Gabriel (ؑ), and Michael, and Israfil, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who knowest the unseen and the seen; Thou decidest amongst Thy servants concerning their differences. Guide me with Thy permission in the divergent views (which the people) hold about Truth, for it is Thou Who guidest whom Thou wilt to the Straight Path.

'Ali bin Abu Talib reported that when the Messenger of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) got up at night for prayer he would say: I turn my face in complete devotion to One Who is the Originator of the heaven and the earth and I am not of the polytheists. Verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying 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 believers. O Allah, Thou art the King, there is no god but Thee, Thou art my Lord, and I am Thy bondman. I wronged myself and make a confession of my Sin. Forgive all my sins, for no one forgives the sins but Thee, and guide me in the best of conduct for none but Thee guideth anyone (in) good conduct. Remove sins from me, for none else but Thou can remove sins from me. Here I am at Thy service, and Grace is to Thee and the whole of good is in Thine hand, and one cannot get nearnest to Thee through evil. My (power as well as existence) is due to Thee (Thine grace) and I turn to Thee (for supplication). Thou art blessed and Thou art exalted. I seek forgiveness from Thee and turn to Thee in repentance: and when he would bow, he would say: O Allah, it is for Thee that I bowed. I affirm my faith in Thee and I submit to Thee, and submit humbly before Thee my hearing, my eyesight, my marrow, my bone, my sinew; and when he would raise his head, he would say: O Allah, our Lord, praise is due to Thee, (the praise) with which is filled the heavens and the earth, and with which is filled that (space) which exists between them, and filled with anything that Thou desireth afterward. And when he prostrated himself, he (the Holy Prophet) would say: O Allah, it is to Thee that I prostrate myself and it is in Thee that I affirm my faith, and I submit to Thee. My face is submitted before One Who created it, and shaped it, and opened his faculties of hearing and seeing. Blessed is Allah, the best of Creators; and he would then say between Tashahhud and the pronouncing of salutation: Forgive me of the earlier and later open and secret (sins) and that where I made transgression and that Thou knowest better than I. Thou art the First and the Last. There is no god, but Thee.

A'raj reported that when the Messenger of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) would start the prayer, he would pronounce takbir (Allah-o-Akbar) and then say: I turn my face (up to Thee), I am the first of the believers; and when he raised his head from ruku' he said: Allah listened to him who praised Him; O our Lord, praise be to Thee; and he said: He shaped (man) and how fine is his shape? And he (the narrator) said: When he pronounced salutation he said: O Allah, forgive me my earlier (sins), to the end of the hadith; and he did not say it between the Tashahhud and salutation (as mentioned above).