How he opened the night, counted out
Aisha said nobody had asked her that before.
سُبْحَانَ الْمَلِكِ الْقُدُّوسِ
Subḥāna-l-maliki-l-quddūs
“Glory to the King, the Holy.”
Then he sought refuge from the narrowness of this world and the narrowness of the Day of Standing.
Where this comes from
Shariq asked her what he began with when he rose in the night. She said: you have asked me about something nobody has ever asked me before. He would say allāhu akbar ten times, and alḥamdu lillāh ten times, and subḥānallāhi wa biḥamdih ten times, and this ten times, and then ask forgiveness ten times.
The full narration
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: Shariq al-Hawzani and I came to Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) and asked her: By which (prayer) the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began when he woke up at night? She replied: You asked me about a thing which no one asked me before. When he woke up at night, he uttered: "Allah is Most Great" ten times, and uttered "Praise be to Allah" ten times, and said "Glory be to Allah and I begin with His praise" ten times, and said: "Glory be to the King, the Most Holy" ten times, and asked Allah's pardon ten times, and said: "There is no god but Allah" ten times, and then said: "O Allah! I seek refuge in Thee from the strait of the Day of resurrection," ten times. He then began the prayer
Source
Sunan Abī Dāwūd · 5085
- Al-Albani: Hasan Sahih
- Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Hasan Sahih
- Zubair Ali Zai: Hasan