The Book of Prayers (Kitab Al-Salat)

Muslim :: Book 4 : Hadith 1697

Hudhaifa reported: I prayed with the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) one night and he started reciting al-Baqara. I thought that he would bow at the end of one hundred verses, but he proceeded on; I then thought that he would perhaps recite the whole (surah) in a rak'ah, but he proceeded and I thought he would perhaps bow on completing (this surah). He then started al-Nisa', and recited it; he then started Al-i-'Imran and recited leisurely. And when he recited the verses which referred to the Glory of Allah, he glorified (by saying Subhan Allah-Glory to my Lord the Great), and when he recited the verses which tell (how the Lord) is to be begged, he (the Holy Prophet) would then beg (from Him), and when he recited the verses dealing with protection from the Lord, he sought (His) protection and would then bow and say: Glory be to my Mighty Lord; his bowing lasted about the same length of time as his standing (and then on returning to the standing posture after ruku') he would say: Allah listened to him who praised Him, and he would then stand about the same length of time as he had spent in bowing. He would then prostrate himself and say: Glory be to my Lord most High, and his prostration lasted nearly the same length of time as his standing. In the hadith transmitted by Jarir the words are:" He (the Holy Prophet) would say:" Allah listened to him who praised Him, our Lord, to Thee i the praise."