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A'raj reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) would start the prayer, he would pronounce takbir (Allah-o-Akbar) and then say: I turn my face (up to Thee), I am the first of the believers; and when he raised his head from ruku' he said: Allah listened to him who praised Him; O our Lord, praise be to Thee; and he said: He shaped (man) and how fine is his shape? And he (the narrator) said: When he pronounced salutation he said: O Allah, forgive me my ear- lier (sins), to the end of the hadith; and he did not say it between the Tashahhud and salutation (as mentioned above).