In the short sitting between the two sajdahs, the Prophet ﷺ would say Allahummaghfir li, warhamni, wa'afini, wahdini, warzuqni: O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, keep me well, guide me and provide for me.1 The shortest form is Rabbighfir li, said twice.
اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي، وَارْحَمْنِي، وَعَافِنِي، وَاهْدِنِي، وَارْزُقْنِي
Allāhummagh-fir lī, warḥamnī, wa ʿāfinī, wahdinī, warzuqnī
O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, keep me safe and well, guide me and provide for me.
Sunan Abi Dawud 850, graded hasan
اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي، وَارْحَمْنِي، وَاجْبُرْنِي، وَاهْدِنِي، وَارْزُقْنِي
Allāhummagh-fir lī, warḥamnī, wajburnī, wahdinī, warzuqnī
O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, mend my state, guide me and provide for me.
Jami at-Tirmidhi 284, graded sahih by al-Albani
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي، رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي
Rabbigh-fir lī, rabbigh-fir lī
My Lord, forgive me. My Lord, forgive me.
Sunan Abi Dawud 874; Sunan Ibn Majah 897, graded sahih
Our teachers will check the Arabic and transliteration on this page before launch.
Guide
In the short sitting between the two sajdahs, the Prophet ﷺ would say Allahummaghfir li, warhamni, wa'afini, wahdini, warzuqni: O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, keep me well, guide me and provide for me.1 The shortest form is Rabbighfir li, said twice.
Rise from the first sajdah saying Allahu akbar. Sit upright, place your hands on your thighs and be still for at least the time it takes to say Subhanallah once. Say the dua if you are going to, then say Allahu akbar and go into the second sajdah. Rushing straight from one sajdah to the next, without sitting up, is one of the most common mistakes in salah.
Sitting up and being still between the two sajdahs is wajib. Saying the dua in it is recommended in nafl prayers and allowed in fard prayers. An imam in a fard prayer usually keeps the sitting short and does not lengthen it with the dua.
All three are sound. Hudhayfah described the Prophet ﷺ sitting in a long night prayer for almost as long as his sajdah, repeating Rabbighfir li.2 If you are new to salah, start with that short form, then learn the five-word dua.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Questions
Allahummaghfir li, warhamni, wa'afini, wahdini, warzuqni (Abu Dawud 850), or simply Rabbighfir li, Rabbighfir li (Abu Dawud 874).
Not in the Hanafi, Shafi'i or Maliki schools. The Hanbali school holds that Rabbighfir li once is wajib. The sitting itself is wajib in the Hanafi school.
At least long enough to be still, about the time of one Subhanallah. In nafl prayers you can sit longer and make the dua.