Opening supplication with good praise of Allah and with blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When any one of you wishes to supplicate, he should first praise and extol Allah Almighty as befits His majesty, then send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then supplicate, for then it is more likely to succeed (that is, to be accepted).
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except that Abu Ubaydah did not hear from his father (that is, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him)).

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not treat me like the rider's cup. For the rider fills his cup, and when he has finished, he hangs it up; if he needs a drink or needs to perform ablution (wudu), he uses it, otherwise he pours it away." The narrator says: I think the narration also contains these words: "Mention me at the beginning of the supplication, in its middle and at the end of the supplication."
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains Musa bin Ubaydah, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Fadalah bin Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was seated when a man came in. He offered the prayer and then said: O Allah, forgive me and have mercy on me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "O you who pray, you have been hasty. When you have finished the prayer, sit and praise Allah Almighty as befits His majesty, then send blessings upon me, and then supplicate to Him." Then another man offered the prayer; he praised Allah Almighty and sent blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Ask, and you will be given."
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Abu Dawud recorded this narration, but it does not contain the words "Then after that another man offered the prayer"; the words from there to the end are not in it.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Rishdin bin Sa'd, whose hadith on subjects that soften the heart (al-riqaq) is accepted, and the remaining narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: The hadiths about sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) will come later.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by Sayyiduna Abu Ayyash Zayd bin al-Samit al-Zuraqi (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was offering the prayer and making this supplication:
'Allahumma inni as'aluka bi-anna laka al-hamd, la ilaha illa anta, ya Mannan, ya Badi' al-samawati wal-ard, ya Dhal-Jalali wal-Ikram' (O Allah, I ask You by virtue of the fact that all praise belongs to You alone; there is no god but You; O Bestower of abundant favours, O Originator of the heavens and the earth, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour!)
The narrator says: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He has supplicated to Allah Almighty by His Greatest Name, by which, when He is supplicated, Allah Almighty answers, and when He is asked by it, Allah Almighty gives."
Ahmad recorded it, and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir; the narrators of Ahmad are thiqat (trustworthy), except that Ibn Ishaq is a mudallis, even though he is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to a man who was saying:
'Allahumma inni as'aluka bi-anna laka al-hamd, la ilaha illa anta al-Mannan, ya Badi' al-samawati wal-ard, ya Dhal-Jalali wal-Ikram'
(O Allah, indeed I ask You by virtue of the fact that all praise belongs to You alone; there is no god but You; You are the Bestower of abundant favours, the Originator of the heavens and the earth; O Possessor of Majesty and Honour!)
The narrator says: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He has supplicated to Allah Almighty by that Name of His by which, when He is supplicated, Allah Almighty answers."
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Aban bin Abi Ayyash, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Salamah bin al-Akwa' al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Whenever I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicate, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would begin the supplication by reciting:
'Subhana Rabbiya al-Aliyyi al-A'la al-Wahhab'
(My Lord is free from every defect, the Most High, the Most Exalted, the Bestower of abundant gifts.)
Ahmad recorded it, and al-Tabarani recorded something similar; its chain contains Umar bin Rashid al-Yamami, whom more than one scholar declared thiqah (trustworthy), and the remaining narrators of Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: A man asked: O Messenger of Allah! Is there any supplication that is not rejected? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! Recite this:
'As'aluka bismika al-A'la, al-A'azz, al-Ajall, al-Akram' (I ask You by that Name of Yours which is the Most High, the Most Mighty, the Most Majestic, the Most Honourable.)
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat and al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its chain contains narrators whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports this about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Once he came to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) in the morning. She said: O Messenger of Allah! May my father and mother be sacrificed for you; teach me that Name of Allah Almighty by which, when He is supplicated, Allah Almighty answers, and when He is asked by it, Allah Almighty gives. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned his face away from her. She stood up, performed ablution (wudu), and said:
'Allahumma inni as'aluka min al-khayri kullihi, ma alimtu minhu wa ma lam a'lam, wa bismika al-azim alladhi idha du'ita bihi ajabta, wa idha su'ilta bihi a'tayta'
(O Allah, I ask You for all good, what I know of it and what I do not know, and I supplicate by Your Mighty Name, by which, when You are supplicated, You answer, and when You are asked by it, You give.)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah, it (that Name) is among these names."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Asari, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The Greatest Name of Allah Almighty, by which, when He is supplicated, Allah Almighty answers, is in this verse of Surah Al Imran:
'Say: O Allah, Owner of sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will' [Al Imran: 26], to the end of the verse."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Jisr bin Farqad, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever supplicates with these five phrases, whatever he asks Allah Almighty for, Allah Almighty will grant it to him:
'La ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar, la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir, la ilaha illallah, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah'
(There is no god but Allah; Allah is the Greatest; there is no god but Allah, He alone, He has no partner; to Him alone belongs the dominion and to Him alone belongs all praise, and He has power over all things; there is no god but Allah; nothing can happen without the help of Allah.)"
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its chain is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a Friday. He led the people in the Asr prayer, and after the first two rak'ahs he was sitting for the tashahhud. Meanwhile a dog began to pass in front so as to interrupt his prayer, and he feared that the dog might pass in front of him. Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) invoked harm against that dog, and Allah Almighty, by His power, destroyed it. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer, he looked at the dog and saw that it had died. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Which of you invoked against this dog? No one answered. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) repeated his question, and Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, I invoked against it. I feared that it might interrupt your prayer, so I invoked against it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: How did you invoke against it? Sayyiduna Sa'd said: (I recited these words:)
'Subhanaka la ilaha illa anta, ya Dhal-Jalali wal-Ikram, ahlik hadha al-kalba qabla an yaqta'a ala nabiyyika salatah'
(You are free from every defect; there is no god but You; O Possessor of Majesty and Honour! Destroy this dog before it breaks the prayer of Your Prophet.)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You have supplicated on a particular day, at a particular hour, with such words that, had you invoked against everything between the heavens and the earth, your supplication would have been answered. So, O Sa'd, receive these glad tidings!
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Yahya bin Abdullah al-Babulti, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When you seek something you need and you wish to succeed in your aim (that is, for your supplication to be accepted), then recite this:
'La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu al-Aliyyu al-Azim, la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu al-Hakimu al-Karim, bismillahi alladhi la ilaha illa huwa al-Hayyu al-Hakim, subhanallahi Rabbi al-arshi al-azim, al-hamdu lillahi Rabbi al-alamin' [Al-Ahqaf: 35], [Al-Nazi'at: 46], 'Allahumma inni as'aluka mujibati rahmatik, wa aza'ima maghfiratik, wal-ghanimata min kulli birr, wal-salamata min kulli ithm, Allahumma la tada' lana dhanban illa ghafartah, wa la hamman illa farrajtah, wa la daynan illa qadaytah, wa la hajatan min hawa'iji al-dunya wal-akhirati illa qadaytaha bi-rahmatika ya arham al-rahimin'
'There is no god but Allah, He alone, He has no partner, the Most High, the Most Great; there is no god but Allah, He alone, He has no partner, the All-Wise, the Most Noble; seeking blessing through the name of Allah Almighty, besides whom there is no god, the Ever-Living, the All-Wise; Allah Almighty is free from every defect, the Lord of the Mighty Throne; all praise belongs to Allah Almighty alone, the Lord of all the worlds.
(Allah, the Exalted, says:) "On the Day they see that (Resurrection) which they are promised, (they will feel) as though they had remained (in the world) only as long as an hour of a day (that is, one watch of the day). (This Qur'an from Allah Almighty is) a message. (So on that Day of Resurrection) none but the transgressors (that is, the disbelievers) will be destroyed."
(In another place Allah, the Exalted, says:) "On the Day they see it (the Resurrection), (they will feel) as though they had remained (in the world) only as long as an evening or its forenoon." O Allah, I ask You for that which makes Your mercy obligatory and makes Your forgiveness certain, and for gain from every righteous deed and safety from every sin. O Allah, forgive my every sin, remove my every worry, have my every debt paid, and by Your mercy fulfil every one of my needs of this world and the Hereafter, O Most Merciful of those who show mercy!'"
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Abbad bin Abd al-Samad, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a Bedouin who, while supplicating during his prayer, was saying:
'Ya man la tarahu al-uyun, wa la tukhalituhu al-zunun, wa la yasifuhu al-wasifun, wa la tughayyiruhu al-hawadith, wa la yakhsha al-dawa'ir, ya'lamu mathaqil al-jibal, wa makayil al-bihar, wa adada qatr al-amtar, wa adada waraq al-ashjar, wa adada ma azlama alayhi al-laylu wa ashraqa alayhi al-nahar, wa ma tawara min sama'in sama'an, wa la ardin ardan, wa la bahrin ma fi qa'rihi, wa la jabalin ma fi wa'rihi, ij'al khayra umri akhirah, wa khayra amali khawatimah, wa khayra ayyami yawma alqaka fih'
(O You whom eyes cannot see, with whom suppositions cannot mingle, whose true attributes describers cannot describe, whom events cannot change, and who does not fear vicissitudes! He knows the weights of the mountains, the depths of the seas, the drops of the rains, the leaves of the trees, and the number of all that the darkness of night covers and all that the light of day shines upon; no part of the sky and no part of the earth is hidden from Him; nothing of what lies in the depths of the sea, nor of what is on the mountains and their peaks, is hidden from Him. (O Allah!) Make the last part of my life its best part, make my final deed my best deed, and make the best of my days the day on which I shall present myself before You.)
The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man to that Bedouin and said: When he has finished the prayer, bring him to me. When he had finished the prayer and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), some gold from a mine had earlier been given to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a gift. When the Bedouin came to him, he gave him that gold and said: O Bedouin, to whom do you belong? He replied: To the Banu Amir bin Sa'sa'ah, O Messenger of Allah! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do you know why I have given you the gold? He said: O Messenger of Allah! Because there is a tie of kinship between us and you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Kinship too has its right, but I gave you this gold because you praised Allah Almighty in an excellent way.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Abdullah bin Muhammad, Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Adhrami, who is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Rabi'ah bin Amir bin Bijad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Keep reciting 'Ya Dhal-Jalali wal-Ikram' (O Possessor of Majesty and Honour)!"
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Yahya bin Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani, who is da'if (weak).

Al-Sari narrates, from Yahya, this account of a man from the tribe of Tayyi' (and he praised that man); that man says: "I used to supplicate to Allah Almighty to show me that 'Name' by which, when He is supplicated, Allah Almighty answers. Then I saw written on a star in the sky:
'Ya Badi' al-samawati wal-ard, ya Dhal-Jalali wal-Ikram'
(O Originator of the heavens and the earth! O Possessor of Majesty and Honour!)"
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Furat bin Salman narrates: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Let one of you stand, offer four rak'ahs, and in them recite what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite:
'Tamma nuruka fa-hadayta fa-laka al-hamd, azuma hilmuka fa-afawta fa-laka al-hamd, fa-basatta yadaka fa-a'tayta fa-laka al-hamd, Rabbana wajhuka akram al-wujuh, wa jahuka a'zam al-jah, wa atiyyatuka afdal al-atiyyati wa ahna'uha, tuta'u Rabbana fa-tashkur, wa tu'sa Rabbana fa-taghfir, wa tujibu al-mudtarr, wa takshifu al-durr, wa tashfi al-saqam, wa taghfiru al-dhanb, wa taqbalu al-tawbah, wa la yajzi bi-ala'ika ahad, wa la yablughu midhataka qawlu qa'il' (Your light is complete, You granted guidance, so all praise belongs to You alone; Your forbearance is immense, You pardoned, so all praise belongs to You alone; You extended Your hand and gave, so all praise belongs to You alone. O our Lord! Your Face is the most noble of faces, Your majesty is the greatest of all, and Your gift is the most excellent and most pleasant of gifts. O our Lord! When You are obeyed, You accept gratitude; O our Lord! When You are disobeyed, You forgive. You answer the one in distress and remove distress, You cure sickness, You forgive sin, You accept repentance; no one can repay Your blessings, and the words of no speaker can reach the full extent of Your praise.)
Abu Ya'la recorded it; Furat did not live in the time of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); its chain contains al-Khalil bin Murrah, whom Abu Zur'ah declared thiqah (trustworthy) while the majority declared him da'if (weak); the remaining narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: (Once) I passed by Sayyiduna Uthman al-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him), who was in the mosque. I greeted him with salam; he raised his eyes and looked at me, but he did not return my greeting. I came to the Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and said: O Commander of the Believers! Has something new happened in Islam? I said this twice. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: No! What has happened? I said: No (nothing)! It is just that a little while ago I passed by Sayyiduna Uthman, who was in the mosque; I greeted him, he raised his eyes and looked at me, but then he did not return my greeting. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent for Sayyiduna Uthman al-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him), summoned him and asked: Why did you not return your brother's greeting? Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I did not do that. (Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) says:) I said: Yes! (that is, you did do so). The narrator says: Until he swore an oath and I swore an oath. The narrator says: Then Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) remembered and said: Yes! (that is, it must have happened so). I seek forgiveness from Allah Almighty and repent to Him. A little while ago you passed by me while I was reflecting on something I had heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Whenever that comes to my mind, a veil comes over my sight and a veil comes over my heart (that is, my whole attention turns to that matter). Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will tell you about it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned a supplication to us; then a Bedouin came to him and he became occupied with him, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and left, and I followed him. When I feared that he would reach his home before me, I struck the ground hard with my foot. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned and looked at me and asked: Who is it? Is it Abu Ishaq? I said: Yes! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: What is the matter? I said: By Allah, nothing is the matter, except that you mentioned a supplication to us, then that Bedouin came and you became occupied with him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! It is the supplication of Sayyiduna Dhun-Nun (that is, Sayyiduna Yunus (peace be upon him)) when he was in the belly of the fish (which is mentioned in the Qur'an in these words:)
"There is no god but You; You are free from every defect; indeed, I was among the wrongdoers." [Al-Anbiya: 87]
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Any Muslim who supplicates to his Lord with these words, for anything whatsoever, his Lord will answer his supplication."
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Al-Tirmidhi recorded part of this narration.
Ahmad, Abu Ya'la and al-Bazzar recorded it; the narrators of Ahmad and Abu Ya'la, and of one of al-Bazzar's two chains, are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, who is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: Supplicate to Allah Almighty that He admit me into Paradise. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), declaring the greatness of the Lord, said: "His Kursi (Footstool) is greater than the heavens and the earth, and a creaking sound comes from it, just as a creaking sound comes from a new saddle when a load is placed on it."
Abu Ya'la recorded it in al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Abdullah bin Khalifah al-Hamdhani, who is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a servant says four times: O my Lord! O my Lord!, Allah Almighty says: Here I am, O My servant! Ask, and you will be given."
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains al-Hakam bin Sa'id al-Umawi, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A guest came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent word to his wives in order to obtain something to eat from them, but he did not find anything with any of them. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made this supplication:
'Allahumma inni as'aluka min fadlika wa rahmatika, fa-innahu la yamlikuhuma illa ant'
(O Allah, I ask You of Your bounty and Your mercy, for none owns them both except You.)
The narrator says: Then roasted goat meat was presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a gift, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is part of the bounty of Allah Almighty, and we are waiting for the mercy of Allah Almighty."
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Muhammad bin Ziyad al-Burjumi, who is thiqah (trustworthy).

It is reported about Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to say: "O Originator, for whom there is no beginning! O Everlasting, for whom there is no end! O Ever-Living, O Giver of life to the dead! You are the Guardian over what every soul has earned."
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its chain is munqati' (broken).

Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Get up, so that we may seek help from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning this hypocrite. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Help is not sought from me; help is sought from Allah Almighty."
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Ibn Lahi'ah, who is hasan al-hadith (sound in hadith).
Ahmad recorded it without this context, and it is mentioned in the Book of Manners (al-Adab), in the chapter on standing up (for someone).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "A person in Hell will call out, saying: 'Ya Hannan, ya Mannan' (that is, O Most Compassionate, O Bestower of abundant favours)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its chain is hasan (good).