** Posture 4. Ruku (The Bowing)

** Translation of Salat: Essence of the Daily Prayers

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Posture 4 – Ar-Rukūʿ (Bowing)

Ruku

Arabic	Transliteration	English Translation
اَللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ (while bending)	Allahu Akbar (moving into the bow)	Allah is the Greatest
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ (ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ)	Then: Subhana Rabbiyal-‘Azim (recited three times)	Then: Glory be to my Lord, the Greatest.
سُبْحَانَ ذِي الْمَلَكُوتِ وَالْعِزَّةِ وَالْعَظَمَةِ وَالْكِبْرِيَاءِ	Subḥāna dhil-malakūti wal-ʿizzati wal-ʿaẓamati wal-kibriyāʾ	Glory be to the Possessor of the Dominion, the Might, the Grandeur, and the Majesty. Word-by-Word Meaning

Word-by-Word Meaning

Arabic	Meaning
سُبْحَانَ	Glory be to
رَبِّيَ	my Lord
الْعَظِيمِ	the Magnificent
سُبْحَانَ	Glory be to
ذِي	the Possessor of
الْمَلَكُوتِ	the Dominion (the entire kingdom of creation)
وَالْعِزَّةِ	and the Might / Honor
وَالْعَظَمَةِ	and the Grandeur / Greatness
وَالْكِبْرِيَاءِ	and the Majesty / Supreme Pride

Key Points to Remember

✅ Rukūʿ is obligatory (a pillar/rukn) of every rakʿah of Salah.
✅ Bend at the waist with the palms grasping the knees and fingers spread over them; keep the back level — as your reference says, so flat that a glass of water on it would not spill.
✅ The head stays in line with the back — neither drooping nor raised — with the gaze directed toward the place of prostration.
✅ Ṭumaʾnīnah (calm stillness) in the bow is required; the tasbīḥ is said at least three times, and an odd number more is praiseworthy.
✅ In the Ḥanafī school, women bow less deeply — only enough for the hands to reach the knees — with fingers together and elbows kept close to the body.
✅ Rising from Rukūʿ, one says Samiʿa-llāhu liman ḥamidah (“Allah hears the one who praises Him”), and standing fully upright: Rabbanā laka-l-ḥamd (“Our Lord, to You belongs all praise”) — this brief standing (iʿtidāl/qawmah) is itself required before going down to Sajdah.

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