Authentic Supplication Number 33.

Upon going to bed the Messenger of Allah  would say: ‘Allahumma rabbas samawati, wa rabbal ‘ardhi, wa rabbal `arshil `atheemi, rabbana wa rabba kulli shay’in, faliqal-habbi wan-nawa, wa munazzil ‘attawrati wal ‘injeeli, wal-furqani, ‘a`outhu bika min sharri kulli thee sharrin ‘anta akhitkun binasiyatihi, ‘allahumma ‘antal ‘awwalu falaysa qablaka shay’un, wa ‘antal ‘akhiru falaysa ba`daka shay’un, wa ‘anta ‘ath-thahiru falaysa fawqaka shay’un, wa ‘antal-batinu falaysa doonaka shay’un, ‘iqdhi `anna ‘ad-dayna, wa ‘aghnina min ‘al faqri (55).

Footnotes.
(55) O’ my ‘ilah Lord of the Heavens, Lord of the Earth, Lord of the Magnificent Throne, Our Lord, and The Lord of everything, causer of seeds and fruit-stones to germinate, down bringer of the Tawraht, ‘Injeel, and Furqan., I seek refuge in You from the evil of all having evil whom You shall be taking by the forelock. O’ my ‘ilah You are The First, for there was nothing before You; You are the Last, for there is nothing after You; You are The Outward [or Ascendant] for there is nothing above You; and You are The Inner, for nothing is beyond You. Consume, for us, our debts; and enrich us out of poverty”.

Further Explanation: Dr. Salih Al-Fozan says, in his explanation of Ibn Taymiyas’ ‘Al-`Aqeedah ‘Al-Wasitiyyah, that this hadeeth explains that Allah was before everything, and remains after everything. It affirms that Allah is ascendant over all else, and at the same time He is so close with his Knowledge that He is the Inner (closer to the subject, in knowledge, than itself), and nothing is beyond his Knowledge. This closeness is, of course, the closeness of all-surrounding complete knowledge.

A different, yet consistent, perspective on this hadeeth is provided by Shaikh Nasiruddeen Al-Albani. He explained “The Inner” in the footnotes of his authentication of Ibn Taymiya’s Al-Kalim At-Tayyib: “Meaning that due to the magnificence of your Majesty, and the perfection of your Pride no one is able to realize Your essence in spite of your perfect outwardness”. With respect to “nothing is beyond You” he said, quoting Abul-Hasan As-Sanadee: “Meaning that there is nothing beyond You that would be more Inner than You”. So just as Allah is The Outward and yet beyond our realization (The Inner), there is not anything, or anyone that beyond Allah’s knowledge and realization (more Inner).

With respect to Allah Ascendance: Allah is above and higher than all his creation, He is upon his Throne which is a greater creation than the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them (including humans). Allah refers to this Throne in the Qur’an as the “Noble Throne” and the “Magnificent Throne”. Muslims are to affirm this ascendance as Allah has affirmed it. We do not cast any resemblance upon Allah to humans in his ascendance. We simply affirm what Allah affirms! We know what it is to ascend; however we do not know how! The how is beyond the limits of human comprehension, and thus we are not to think about it. We simply say that it is in a manner befitting to the Might, and Glory of Allah the Exalted Most High.

Reporters.
Reported by Muslim, Abu dawood, Ahmad, and At-Tirmithi. Muslim’s wording varied as: kulli shayin instead of kulli thee sharrin. Al-Albani included it in The Authentic of Good Sayings as #33.