Dua Between Two Sujud: What the Prophet ﷺ Said (Rabbighfirli)

What do you say in that short pause between your two prostrations? For many of us it passes in a second. Yet the Prophet ﷺ had a dua between two sujud, and in his night prayer he lingered there. Here is the authentic hadith, its Arabic and meaning, and the longer version you can also use.

The hadith

Context

This was a night prayer. Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and in the longer narration in Sunan Abi Dawud 874 he describes him reciting Surah Al-Baqarah before bowing. Sunan an-Nasa’i 1069 ends by noting that his standing, bowing, rising from bowing, prostration and the sitting between the two prostrations were all close to each other in length.

A note on the chain: in an-Nasa’i’s and Abu Dawud’s chains, one narrator is an unnamed man from the tribe of Banu ‘Abs. The same “Rabbighfir li” wording also comes through a fully named chain in Sunan Ibn Majah 897 (via Silah ibn Zufar, from Hudhaifah), and al-Albani and Darussalam both grade the hadith Sahih.

What it means

In this one hadith, Hudhaifah tells us what the Prophet ﷺ said in each position of his prayer:

• Opening takbir: Allahu akbar, with praise of Allah’s power, sovereignty, magnificence and might
• Bowing: Subhana Rabbiyal-‘Azim
• Rising from bowing: Li Rabbiyal-hamd (see also Hamdan kathiran)
• Prostration: Subhana Rabbiyal-A’la
• Between the two prostrations: Rabbighfir li, Rabbighfir li

Reflection: The sitting between the two prostrations is often the shortest moment in our salah. The Prophet ﷺ filled it with the simplest request there is, forgiveness, said twice. And in his night prayer he sat there about as long as he prostrated, which shows this pause is a place for dua, not just a break before the next sajdah.

Dua between two sujud: the short and longer versions

Both of these are authentic. The first is the short dua above. The second is a fuller one narrated by Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him):

Personally, I switch between the short Rabbighfirli and this longer version from Ibn Abbas’s hadith.

What about the version many of us learned at school?

Many of us in Malaysia learned a longer version at school: Rabbighfirli warhamni wajburni warfa’ni warzuqni wahdini wa’afini wa’fu ‘anni. As far as we can find, no single hadith has it as one dua. Its words come from different narrations of Ibn Abbas’s hadith: “wajburni” from Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 284 and “warfa’ni” from Sunan Ibn Majah 898, both graded Da’if (weak) by Darussalam. We couldn’t find “wa’fu ‘anni” in these narrations.

This isn’t a criticism of anyone who recites it. If you’ve been saying it for years, ask a scholar you trust whether to keep it or move to the authentic wordings above.

How to practise it

• In every sitting between the two prostrations, say Rabbighfir lī, Rabbighfir lī, as in the hadith.
• Take your time in this sitting. In his night prayer, the Prophet ﷺ sat here about as long as he prostrated.
• If you’d like a fuller dua, use the wording from Sunan Abi Dawud 850.
• In your own night prayer, try lengthening this sitting by repeating Rabbighfir lī a few more times (a suggestion; the hadith sets no number).
• Learn what each word means so the dua comes from the heart, not just the tongue.

Key lessons

• The Prophet ﷺ said “Rabbighfir li, Rabbighfir li” between the two prostrations.
• A longer authentic version is in Sunan Abi Dawud 850 (Hasan).
• The sitting between the sujud is a place for dua, not a rushed pause.
• The popular school version mixes several narrations, some of them weak.

Questions people ask

May Allah forgive us every time we sit between our prostrations, and accept our salah.

Save this to Pinterest so you remember what to say in the sitting between your prostrations.