One day a man, having entered the prayer, said, "Praise be to Allah, filling the heavens." He then glorified Allah and made supplication.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, "Who said those words?"The man replied, "I did."The Prophet ﷺ said, "I saw the angels passing them to one another."
أن رجلا قال: ذات يوم-ودخل الصلاة- الحمد لله ملء السماء، وسبح ودعا، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: من قائلهن؟ فقال الرجل: أنا، فقال النبي ﷺ: لقد رأيت الملائكة تلقى به بعضهم بعضا.
Ahmad (6632, 7060) and Bazzar (Kashf Astar - 524) both narrated it via Hammad bin Salama, from Ata bin Saaib, from his father, from Abdullah bin Amr, and he related it. Its isnad is sahih. Ata bin Saaib is trustworthy, the leading scholars affirmed his reliability, except that he became confused in his later life, but Hammad bin Salama's narration from him predates that confusion.Something with a similar meaning was reported from Abdul-Jabbar bin Waail, from his father, who said, I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and a man said, "Praise be to Allah, abundant, good, and blessed praise." When the Prophet ﷺ finished the prayer, he said, "Who was it that said that?" The man said, "I did, and I intended nothing but good." The Prophet said, "The gates of heaven were opened for it, and nothing could hold it back (meaning prevent or restrain it) short of the Throne."Ibn Majah (3802) and Ahmad (18860) both narrated it from the hadith of Yahya bin Adam, who said, Israil narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, from Abdul-Jabbar bin Waail, from his father, and he related it. Nasai (932) narrated it via Yunus, from Abu Ishaq, with the same chain, at greater length. In it, Abdul-Jabbar bin Waail did not hear directly from his father according to most scholars, but rather heard it from members of his household.It has been reported of Umar bin Khattab that he used to say these words aloud, "Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god besides You." Muslim narrated it in the Book of Prayer (399:52) from Muhammad bin Mihran Razi, who said, Walid bin Muslim narrated to us, who said, Uzai narrated to us, from Abdah, that Umar bin Khattab used to say these words aloud, and he related it. This is a disconnected chain, but it has been established from Umar through other routes, and the discussion of it is set out at length in the Book of Prayer.Imam Ahmad held the view that one should open the prayer with this supplication, while permitting the use of others as well, since they have also been established as authentic from the Prophet ﷺ, except that regarding the hadith of Ali, he said that some scholars say it applies to the night prayer.