Glorifying God

The tasbih is the formula of glorification, the declaration Subhan Allah, glory be to God or God is free of all imperfection, and by extension the practice of its repetition. It is traditionally recited, together with the praise of God (tahmid) and the affirmation of his greatness (takbir), a set number of times after each of the obligatory prayers, commonly thirty-three times each, counted on the fingers or on the string of prayer beads that itself takes the name tasbih from the practice.

As a form of dhikr it belongs to the constant remembrance of God enjoined in the Quran, and in Sufi practice it figures among the litanies recited individually and in gathering. To glorify God in this way is to declare him transcendent and free of any defect or partner, and the tasbih is among the simplest and most constant of the devotional formulas by which that recognition is kept before the mind.