Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1084
أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدٌ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي بِشْرٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ يُوسُفَ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ مَاهِكٍ - يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ حَكِيمٍ، قَالَ بَايَعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ لاَ أَخِرَّ إِلاَّ قَائِمًا .
Ismaʿil ibn Masʿud informed us: Khalid narrated to us, from Shuʿbah, from Abu Bishr, who said: I heard Yusuf—namely, Ibn Mahak—relate from Hakim ibn Hizam, who said: I pledged to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that I would descend into prostration only after standing upright.
Translation notes
The Arabic literally says “that I would not fall/descend except standing.” The English witness interprets this in the prayer context as descending into prostration after rising from bowing; that interpretation is followed here.
قَالَ بَايَعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ لاَ أَخِرَّ إِلاَّ قَائِمًا .
The phrase أَنْ لاَ أَخِرَّ إِلاَّ قَائِمًا literally means “that I not fall except standing”; the English witness interprets it as descending into prostration after standing up from bowing.
Does the phrase refer to rising from bowing before prostration, as the English witness suggests?