"Glorify the Name of thy Lord, the Most High."
Quran 87:1
I culled out the opening verse from the al-A'la, the 87th surah, often rendered as "The Most High," so that I could include this commentary from Nasr.
From Nasr, "Regarding the relationship between the different ways in which God is glorified in the Quran, see 64:1C. The Most High can be understood to modify Lord or the Name, though most prefer the former. When Most High modifies Lord, the verse is simply an injunction to glorify God. When it modifies the Name, the verse is understood to provide instruction regarding the manner in which one should glorify God, meaning that one should refrain from associating the Name of God with any other thing or that one should praise God with the Names that God has revealed, as in 17:110: Call upon God, or call upon te Compassionate. It is said that when So glorify the Name of thy Lord, the Magnificent (56:74) was revealed, the Prophet told his Companions, 'Enact it when you bow [in prayer],' and when the present verse wasd revealed, he said, 'Enact it when you prostrate.' Muslims thus say 'Glory be to God, the Magnificent' three times when bowing in prayer and the formula 'Glory be to God the Most High' three times when prostrating." (Study Quran, p. 1504)
In a previous post I included a link that shows how Muslims pray. This excerpt from Nasr gives you a sense of why they say what they say. It's often said that the Quran provides the big message (i.e. you should pray) and the hadith (sayings) and sunnah (actions) of the Prophet filled in the details (i.e. how you should pray), and here's a good example. You're reciting Quranic verses while praying, but it was the Prophet who made clear which ones to recite.
Quran 87:1
I culled out the opening verse from the al-A'la, the 87th surah, often rendered as "The Most High," so that I could include this commentary from Nasr.
From Nasr, "Regarding the relationship between the different ways in which God is glorified in the Quran, see 64:1C. The Most High can be understood to modify Lord or the Name, though most prefer the former. When Most High modifies Lord, the verse is simply an injunction to glorify God. When it modifies the Name, the verse is understood to provide instruction regarding the manner in which one should glorify God, meaning that one should refrain from associating the Name of God with any other thing or that one should praise God with the Names that God has revealed, as in 17:110: Call upon God, or call upon te Compassionate. It is said that when So glorify the Name of thy Lord, the Magnificent (56:74) was revealed, the Prophet told his Companions, 'Enact it when you bow [in prayer],' and when the present verse wasd revealed, he said, 'Enact it when you prostrate.' Muslims thus say 'Glory be to God, the Magnificent' three times when bowing in prayer and the formula 'Glory be to God the Most High' three times when prostrating." (Study Quran, p. 1504)
In a previous post I included a link that shows how Muslims pray. This excerpt from Nasr gives you a sense of why they say what they say. It's often said that the Quran provides the big message (i.e. you should pray) and the hadith (sayings) and sunnah (actions) of the Prophet filled in the details (i.e. how you should pray), and here's a good example. You're reciting Quranic verses while praying, but it was the Prophet who made clear which ones to recite.
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