Subhana rabbiyal azeem, and Subhana rabbiyal a'la.

In ruku you say Subhana rabbiyal azeem (Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent), and in sujood Subhana rabbiyal a'la (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High). The Prophet ﷺ said these in his prayer, and in the Hanafi school each is said at least three times.¹ The words for rising from ruku and some duas for sujood are below too.

How many times?

Three times is the sunnah minimum in the Hanafi school, and odd numbers such as five or seven are better when you pray alone. An imam should not lengthen them so much that it burdens the people behind him. The hadith that calls three times "the least" has a break in its chain, so it is graded weak, but scholars of all four schools act on it.²

Rising from ruku

In the Hanafi school, the imam says Sami'allahu liman hamidah as he rises and the people behind him say Rabbana lakal-hamd. Someone praying alone says both.

Making dua in sujood

The Prophet ﷺ said a servant is closest to his Lord while in sujood, so make much dua there.³

"Wa bihamdih" at the end

Some people say Subhana rabbiyal azeemi wa bihamdih. This addition is in Sunan Abi Dawud, but Abu Dawud himself said he feared it was not preserved, so most teachers keep to the shorter form.⁴

1. Sahih Muslim 772.
2. Sunan Abi Dawud 886; Jami at-Tirmidhi 261, graded weak.
3. Sahih Muslim 482.
4. Sunan Abi Dawud 870.
5. Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, on the sunnahs of salah. The other madhhabs' positions are summarised from their standard manuals.
6. Sahih Muslim 772
7. Sahih Muslim 772
8. Sahih Muslim 772
9. Sahih al-Bukhari 799
10. Sahih Muslim 487
11. Sahih Muslim 483

The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.