Chapter on the Detailed Explanation of Prayer, Including the Obligatory and Recommended, and What is Permissible and Not Permissible.

Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub, from Muhammad ibn Yahya, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Uthman ibn Abd al-Malik, from Abu Bakr al-Hadrami, who said: Abu Ja‘far عليه السلام said: "Do you know what defines the bowing and the prostration?" I (al-Hadrami) said: “No.” Imam عليه السلام said: "Say in the bowing three times: ‘Subhana rabbiyal-‘azim wa bihamdih’, and in the prostration: ‘Subhana rabbiyal-a‘la wa bihamdih’ three times. Whoever leaves out one (recitation) has left out one-third of his prayer, and whoever leaves out two has left out two-thirds of his prayer, and whoever does not recite the tasbih at all, he has no prayer."