Hayya Alal Falah (Arabic: حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ, “Hasten to success”) is the fifth distinct phrase of the standard Sunni adhan — the Islamic call to prayer recited from minarets five times every day. The muezzin proclaims it twice, immediately after Hayya Alas Salah (“Hasten to the prayer”), inviting every listener within earshot to leave what they are doing and move toward the act in which true success is found.
This guide covers the full Arabic with diacritics, the transliteration, the precise English meaning, what the word falah actually carries in the Qur’an (a layer none of the top-ranking pages explain), the correct response taught in Sahih Muslim 385, the prophetic dua to recite after the adhan finishes (Sahih al-Bukhari 614), the difference between the Sunni and Shia adhan traditions, and a clear answer to every question readers actually search for.
Table of Contents
Hayya Alal Falah in Arabic, Transliteration & English
The phrase is written in Arabic with full diacritics (tashkeel) as:
حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ
and without diacritics — the form most often seen on minarets, mosque banners and digital prayer-time apps:
حي على الفلاح
The standard academic transliteration is Hayya ‘alal-Falah. Common phonetic spellings English readers also use include Hayya Alal Falah, Hayya Ala Al-Falah, Haiya Alal Falaah, and Hai ‘ala al-falah. All transliterate the same three Arabic words; only the romanisation convention differs. The Arabic spelling is fixed.
Word-by-Word Breakdown
| Transliteration | Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Hayya | حَيَّ | Hasten / come / make haste |
| ‘Alal (على + الـ) | عَلَى الْـ | To / toward (the) |
| Falah | الْفَلَاحِ | Success, prosperity, salvation |
The word hayya is a verb of urging, often glossed as “come on” or “hurry” in English — it carries the sense of motion plus immediacy. ‘Alal contracts the preposition ‘ala (“on, toward”) with the definite article al- (“the”). Falah is the noun that does most of the theological work in this phrase — and it deserves its own section.
Key takeaways:
- Hayya Alal Falah means “Hasten to success” — the fifth distinct phrase of the Sunni adhan, repeated twice immediately after Hayya Alas Salah.
- The word falah shares its root (ف-ل-ح) with the verb aflaha the Qur’an uses to describe the believers who have already succeeded: “Qad aflaha al-mu’minoon” (Surah Al-Mu’minun 23:1).
- The correct response when the muezzin says it is La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah — recorded in Sahih Muslim 385 from Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA).
- After the full adhan ends, the Prophet (ﷺ) taught a follow-up dua — Allahumma Rabba hadhihi’d-da’wati’t-tammah — recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari 614, with the promise of his intercession on the Day of Resurrection for whoever recites it.
- The phrase appears in the Sunni adhan only. Shia tradition adds Hayya ‘ala khayri’l-‘amal (“Hasten to the best of deeds”) after it; Sunni tradition adds As-salatu khayrun min an-nawm (“Prayer is better than sleep”) in Fajr.
The Root ف-ل-ح — Why “Falah” Is Bigger Than “Success”
“Hasten to success” is the standard English rendering, and it is correct — but falah is a much wider word than the English word success. In classical Arabic lexicons (including Lane’s Lexicon and Tajul ‘Arus), the trilateral root ف-ل-ح originally meant to cleave or to split. A fallah in Arabic is a farmer — the one who splits the earth with a plough so that a seed can germinate and flourish.
Related:
From that physical image the word grew into a moral metaphor: falah is the breaking-through of the soul into prosperity, the moment hidden potential becomes visible flourishing. By the time the Qur’an was revealed, falah carried the full weight of “to thrive, to prosper, to be saved, to triumph in both this life and the next.” When the adhan calls you to falah, it is not inviting you to a single outcome — it is inviting you to every form of good available to a human being. As classical commentators including Imam al-Khattabi noted in A’lam al-Hadith, falah “encompasses both worldly well-being and the salvation of the Hereafter, leaving no good outside its meaning.”
This is also why the adhan places Hayya Alas Salah first and Hayya Alal Falah second. The first phrase names the deed (prayer). The second phrase names its fruit (success). The order is the order of cause and effect: come to the act, and you will reach the prize.
Falah in the Qur’an — Where the Word Comes From
The most important context none of the major competing articles supply is this: when the muezzin invites you to falah, he is using the exact word the Qur’an uses to describe the believers who have already won. Recognising the verse the word echoes turns the adhan from a routine announcement into a direct quotation of revealed scripture.
In Surah Al-Mu’minun, the very first verse declares:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
Qur’an, Al-Mu’minun (23:1)
“Qad aflaha al-mu’minoon”
“Certainly will the believers have succeeded.”
The verb aflaha is from the same root ف-ل-ح as the noun falah the adhan uses. Verses 2 through 11 of the same surah then list seven characteristics of those who have attained this falah: they are humble in their prayers (khushu’ fi salatihim), they turn away from idle talk, they give zakat, they guard their chastity, they fulfil their trusts, they safeguard their prayers, and as a result they inherit the highest level of Paradise (al-Firdaws). The adhan is therefore not inviting you to an abstract concept of success — it is inviting you to enter the exact group of believers Surah Al-Mu’minun opens by celebrating.
The same root appears again in Surah Ash-Shams 91:9 — “Qad aflaha man zakkaha” (“He has succeeded who purifies his soul”) — and in Surah Al-A’la 87:14 — “Qad aflaha man tazakka” (“Successful is he who purifies himself”). In every case the verb is past-tense, certain, decided. The Qur’an does not promise that the believer might succeed; it declares that he has succeeded. The adhan, by calling you to falah, is calling you to a success that revelation has already underwritten.
Where Hayya Alal Falah Sits in the Adhan
The standard Sunni adhan follows a fixed sequence. Each line below is recited in order, with the indicated number of repetitions:
| # | Phrase | Meaning | Repetitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allahu Akbar | Allah is the Greatest | 4× |
| 2 | Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah | I bear witness there is no god but Allah | 2× |
| 3 | Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah | I bear witness Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah | 2× |
| 4 | Hayya ‘alas-Salah | Hasten to the prayer | 2× |
| 5 | Hayya ‘alal-Falah | Hasten to success | 2× |
| 6 | As-salatu khayrun min an-nawm (Fajr only) | Prayer is better than sleep | 2× |
| 7 | Allahu Akbar | Allah is the Greatest | 2× |
| 8 | La ilaha illa Allah | There is no god but Allah | 1× |
Two details worth noting:
The muezzin turns his face to the left. A small but important point of fiqh recorded in the standard hadith on the adhan of Bilal: when the muezzin reaches Hayya ‘alas-Salah he turns his face slightly to the right, and when he reaches Hayya ‘alal-Falah he turns slightly to the left. The Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali madhhabs all preserve this etiquette — the only two phrases of the adhan where the muezzin breaks his forward-facing posture are these two calls. The intent: to project the invitation outward in every direction, so that no community living to the right or left of the minaret is missed.
Why Hayya Alas Salah is named before Hayya Alal Falah. The Qur’anic phrase “the believers have succeeded… those who are humble in their prayers” (23:1-2) supplies the rationale: prayer is the doorway, success is what you find inside. The adhan names the doorway first, then names the room.
How to Respond When You Hear It
For every other phrase of the adhan, the Sunnah is for the listener to repeat what the muezzin says. But for both Hayya ‘alas-Salah and Hayya ‘alal-Falah, the response is different — the listener does not repeat, but says instead:
لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ
“La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah“
“There is no might nor power except with Allah.”
The proof text is in Sahih Muslim 385, narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), where the Prophet (ﷺ) explained that for the calls of Hayya ‘alas-Salah and Hayya ‘alal-Falah — the only two phrases of action in the adhan — the listener replies with this acknowledgement of utter dependence on Allah. (In some older numbering systems this appears as Sahih Muslim Book 2, Hadith 56.)
The pairing is theologically deliberate. The muezzin commands movement (hasten); the listener replies that no movement is possible except by Allah’s enabling. The very act of getting up and going to the mosque is itself acknowledged as a gift, not a personal achievement.
The Dua After the Full Adhan (Bukhari 614)
Once the muezzin completes the entire adhan, the Prophet (ﷺ) taught a specific supplication to recite immediately afterward. It is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari 614 in the Book of Adhan (Kitab al-Adhan), narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah (RA):
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْقَائِمَةِ آتِ مُحَمَّدًا الْوَسِيلَةَ وَالْفَضِيلَةَ وَابْعَثْهُ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا الَّذِي وَعَدْتَهُ
“Allahumma Rabba hadhihi’d-da’wati’t-tammah wa’s-salati’l-qa’imah, ati Muhammadan al-wasilata wa’l-fadilah, wab’athhu maqaman mahmudan alladhi wa’adtah.”
“O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the established prayer, grant Muhammad the privileged station (al-wasilah) and the virtue, and raise him to the praised station (al-maqam al-mahmud) which You have promised him.”
The Prophet (ﷺ) attached an extraordinary promise to whoever recites this supplication after the adhan: “My intercession on the Day of Resurrection will become lawful for him.” Few short duas in the Sunnah carry a guarantee of intercession this explicitly. For the full text, transliteration, scholarly commentary and the variant wordings recorded in other collections, see our dedicated guide on the Dua After Azan.
Hayya Alas Salah vs Hayya Alal Falah
The two phrases sit back-to-back in the adhan, are formed with the same grammatical pattern, and share the same listener response — but they say different things.
| Hayya Alas Salah | Hayya Alal Falah | |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | حَيَّ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ | حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ |
| Literal meaning | Hasten to the prayer | Hasten to success |
| What it names | The act (salah) | The fruit of the act (falah) |
| Repetitions | 2× | 2× |
| Position | 4th phrase | 5th phrase |
| Muezzin’s face | Turns slightly right | Turns slightly left |
| Listener’s reply | La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah | La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah |
Scholars including Imam al-Nawawi note that the second phrase is the more comprehensive of the two: salah names one specific act, while falah names the totality of good outcomes that flow from it. The adhan first commands the action that is in your control (come to prayer), then promises the outcome that is in Allah’s hand (you will reach success). Recognising this changes how the call sounds: the second phrase is not a repeat — it is a guarantee.
Sunni and Shia Differences in the Adhan
The Sunni and Shia traditions agree on the core of the adhan but differ on two phrases that appear at this exact point in the sequence. Both differences sit immediately after Hayya Alal Falah.
Hayya ‘ala Khayri’l-‘Amal — the Shia Addition
After Hayya Alal Falah, the Shia adhan adds Hayya ‘ala khayri’l-‘amal (حَيَّ عَلَى خَيْرِ الْعَمَلِ), “Hasten to the best of deeds,” repeated twice. Shia scholarship holds that this phrase was part of the original adhan during the Prophet’s lifetime and was later omitted — according to their sources, by Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), with the stated reason that the call should remain focused on salah itself. Sunni scholarship, including all four classical madhhabs (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali), holds that the phrase is not authentically attested in the Prophet’s lifetime as part of the official adhan and therefore should not be added. The IslamQA Hanafi position summarises the Sunni reasoning: any addition to the adhan that lacks a continuous sahih chain of transmission is considered an innovation in worship.
As-Salatu Khayrun Min An-Nawm — the Fajr Addition
In the Sunni Fajr adhan only, after Hayya Alal Falah the muezzin recites As-salatu khayrun min an-nawm (الصَّلَاةُ خَيْرٌ مِنَ النَّوْمِ), “Prayer is better than sleep,” repeated twice. The proof text is in Sunan Abi Dawud 501, with parallel narrations in Sunan an-Nasa’i and Sunan Ibn Majah. Shia tradition does not include this phrase in the Fajr adhan, considering it a later addition (called al-tathweeb) not part of the original prophetic call. This single difference is the simplest auditory way to tell a Sunni Fajr adhan from a Shia one.
A Brief History — Bilal ibn Rabah and the First Adhan
The adhan itself was instituted in Madinah, in the first year after the Hijrah. According to the well-known narration in Sunan Abi Dawud 499 and other collections, the Companion Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Tha’labah (RA) saw a man in a dream teaching him the words of the adhan. He came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and described the dream; the Prophet (ﷺ) recognised it as a true vision and instructed: “Stand with Bilal and teach him, for he has a more beautiful voice than yours.” Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) is also recorded as having seen the same vision the same night.
From that moment, Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi (RA) — a freed Abyssinian slave the Prophet (ﷺ) had personally raised in status — became the first muezzin in Islamic history. Every adhan called from every minaret today, with Hayya ‘alal-Falah at its centre, traces its lineage back to the voice of Bilal climbing the wall of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah and calling the city to prayer. The detail is not incidental: Islam’s daily call to success was first sounded by a man who had been a slave, in a city that had only just become his home. The adhan, in its first historical moment, was already proclaiming what the phrase itself proclaims — that falah belongs to whoever responds, regardless of who they were before.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Hayya Alal Falah mean in English?
Hayya Alal Falah (حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ) literally means “Hasten to success” or “Come to prosperity.” It is the fifth distinct phrase of the standard Sunni adhan, recited twice. The word falah in Arabic carries the combined meaning of flourishing, prosperity, salvation and ultimate triumph — covering both worldly well-being and salvation in the Hereafter, which is why some translators render it as “Come to the success of both worlds.”
What is the correct response when the muezzin says Hayya Alal Falah?
According to Sahih Muslim 385, the listener says “La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah“ — “There is no might nor power except with Allah.” For every other phrase of the adhan, the listener simply repeats what the muezzin says, but for both Hayya ‘alas-Salah and Hayya ‘alal-Falah, the Sunnah response is this acknowledgement of dependence on Allah, narrated on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA).
How many times is Hayya Alal Falah repeated in the adhan?
Twice, in immediate succession, after Hayya ‘alas-Salah (which is also said twice). So in every adhan you hear: “Hayya ‘alas-Salah, Hayya ‘alas-Salah, Hayya ‘alal-Falah, Hayya ‘alal-Falah.” This pattern is identical in all five daily prayers across the four Sunni madhhabs.
What is the difference between Hayya Alas Salah and Hayya Alal Falah?
Hayya ‘alas-Salah means “Hasten to the prayer” — a direct invitation to the act of salah itself. Hayya ‘alal-Falah means “Hasten to success” — it names what coming to salah leads to. Scholars including Imam al-Nawawi note the second phrase is more comprehensive in meaning because falah covers every form of goodness in this world and the next, while salah names one specific act. The order matters: the adhan first names the deed, then names its fruit.
Why do Shia Muslims add Hayya Ala Khayril Amal after Hayya Alal Falah?
In Shia tradition, after Hayya ‘alal-Falah the muezzin adds Hayya ‘ala khayri’l-‘amal (“Hasten to the best of deeds”), repeated twice. Shia sources hold that this phrase was part of the Prophet’s original adhan and was later omitted. Sunni sources, including all four classical madhhabs, hold the phrase is not authentically attested as part of the official adhan in the Prophet’s lifetime and therefore should not be added. The presence or absence of this phrase is one of the clearest auditory differences between the Sunni and Shia adhan.
What does the word “falah” mean in the Qur’an?
The Arabic root ف-ل-ح originally means “to cleave” or “to plough the earth” — the farmer’s act of splitting soil so a seed can flourish. By extension, falah came to mean prosperity, success and salvation. The Qur’an uses the verbal form aflaha in iconic openings: “Qad aflaha al-mu’minoon” — “The believers have certainly succeeded” (Surah Al-Mu’minun 23:1) — and “Qad aflaha man zakkaha” — “He has succeeded who purifies his soul” (Surah Ash-Shams 91:9). When the adhan invites you to falah, it is using the same word the Qur’an uses to describe the saved.
The next time you hear the muezzin call Hayya ‘alal-Falah from a nearby minaret, you are not hearing a routine announcement. You are hearing a direct echo of Surah Al-Mu’minun 23:1, an invitation extended in the voice first carried by Bilal ibn Rabah, with the promise of Allah’s intercession (Bukhari 614) waiting on the other side of the response. Don’t postpone the answer.
