Hadith #589

Arabic Text

English Translation

Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, Ibn ʿAjlān narrated to us, ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khallād narrated to us, from his father, from his uncle — who was a veteran of Badr — who said: We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the mosque when a man entered and prayed in a corner of the mosque. the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept watching him. Then the man came and greeted him, and he returned the greeting and said, 'Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.' He said this two or three times. Then the man said on the third or fourth occasion, 'By the One who sent you with the truth, I have exerted my utmost effort, so teach me and show me.' the Prophet ﷺ said to him, 'When you intend to pray, perform ablution well, then face the qiblah, then say the takbīr, then recite, then bow until you are at ease in your bowing, then rise until you are at ease standing, then prostrate until you are at ease in your prostration, then rise until you are at ease sitting, then prostrate until you are at ease in your prostration, then stand. When you complete your prayer in this manner, you have completed it, and whatever you fall short of in this, you only diminish from your prayer.'