Sayyiduna Ubadah bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever wakes up at night and after waking up recites: 'There is no deity except Allah, He is One, He has no partner, sovereignty belongs to Him, all praise is for Him, and He has power over everything. Allah is free from all defects, all praise is for Allah, there is no deity except Allah, Allah is the Greatest, nothing can happen without Allah's help. O Allah! Forgive me.' (The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, continued) That person's sins are forgiven. If he gets up, performs ablution, and offers prayer, his prayer is accepted. The narrator named Walid has stated this. In the narration, these words are present: 'That person's sins are forgiven.' The narrator is in doubt, perhaps the words are: 'That person's supplication is accepted.'"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand for the night prayer (Tahajjud), he would recite this: "O Allah! All praise is exclusively for You, You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. All praise is exclusively for You, You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. All praise is exclusively for You, You are the King of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. All praise is exclusively for You, You are the Truth, meeting You is the truth, Your promise is the truth, Paradise is the truth, Hell is the truth, the Hour is the truth, the Prophets are the truth, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the truth. O Allah! I have believed in You, and I have submitted to You, and I have relied upon You, and I have turned to You, and with Your help I argue, and I appoint You as a judge. Forgive me for what I have done before and what I will do later, what I have done secretly and what I have done openly. You are the One who brings forward and the One who delays. There is no deity except You."

The narrator named Sufyan states: In this narration, the narrator named Abdul Karim has transmitted these additional words: "There is no deity except You. Nothing can happen without the help of Allah Almighty."

The narrator named Sufyan says: I mentioned these words before Abdul Karim Abu Umayyah, so he said: You should recite this: "You are my deity, there is no deity except You."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand to pray at midnight, he would recite this: "O Allah! All praise is due to You; You are the Light of the heavens and the earth. All praise is due to You; You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth. All praise is due to You; You are the Lord of all that is in the heavens and the earth. You are the Truth, Your promise is true, meeting You is true, Paradise is true, Hell is true, the Hour is true. O Allah! I have submitted to You, I have believed in You, I have relied upon You, I have turned to You, with Your help I argue, and I appoint You as judge. Forgive me for what I have done before and what I will do later, what I have done secretly and what I have done openly. You are my God; there is no god but You."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates about the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he would wake up at night, he would say Takbeer and then recite this: "O Allah! All praise is exclusively for You, You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth. All praise is exclusively for You, You are the Lord of all that is in the heavens and the earth. You are the Truth, Your word is the truth, Your promise is the truth, meeting You is the truth, Paradise is the truth, Hell is the truth, the Hour is the truth. O Allah! I have submitted to You, I have believed in You, I have relied upon You, I have turned to You, I have argued by You, and to You is the return. O Allah! Forgive me for what I have done before and what I will do later, what I have done secretly and what I have done openly, and for all those (sins) of mine. You are my God, there is no god but You."

Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman reports: I asked Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her), "When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would wake up at night, with what would he begin his prayer?" She replied: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand for prayer at night, at the beginning of his prayer (he would recite this supplication): "O Allah! Lord of Jibreel, Mikaeel, and Israfeel! O Creator of the heavens and the earth, O Knower of the unseen and the seen, You will judge between Your servants concerning that wherein they differ. Guide me to the truth concerning that which is disputed, for surely You guide whom You will to the straight path."

The son of Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from his father: I saw the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when he began the prayer, he recited:“Allah is the Greatest, He is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest, He is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest, He is the Greatest. All praise is exclusively for Allah, as much as may be. I declare the purity of Allah from every defect morning and evening. I declare the purity of Allah from every defect morning and evening. O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the devil, from his ‘hamz’, from his ‘nafth’, and from his ‘nafkh’.”The narrator named Amr says: By ‘hamz’ is meant epilepsy, by ‘nafkh’ is meant arrogance, and by ‘nafth’ is meant poetry.

Asim bin Humaid narrates: He asked the noble wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). He says, I inquired: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) would stand to offer the night prayers (Nawafil), with what would he begin? Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) replied: You have asked me about something that no one before you has ever asked me about. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) would stand to offer the night prayers, he would first say "Allahu Akbar" ten times, then say "Subhan Allah" ten times, then say "Alhamdulillah" ten times, then recite "La ilaha illallah" ten times. Then he would recite "Astaghfirullah" ten times and say: "O Allah! Forgive me, keep me steadfast on guidance, and grant me sustenance." He would also say this ten times. Then he would seek Allah's protection from the distress of the Day of Judgment ten times.

It is narrated about Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that when he performed voluntary prayers at night, he would raise his voice somewhat. He mentioned that the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to do the same.

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: One night I performed prayer behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Whenever he recited a verse mentioning mercy, he would pause and ask for that mercy, and whenever he recited a verse mentioning punishment, he would pause and seek refuge from it.

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I performed prayer one night behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and whenever he reached a verse mentioning mercy, he would pause there and ask for that mercy, and whenever he recited a verse mentioning punishment, he would pause there and seek refuge from that punishment.