Duas Before Sleeping and After Waking Up: Words, Meanings and Sources

Authentic reports describe a simple routine: making wudu, shaking out the bed, lying on the right side with the hand under the cheek, then reciting short passages of the Quran and brief supplications. You do not need to adopt everything at once; open each source in the table and add one practice at a time.

Each report stands on its own, and the Arabic of every supplication is on the linked Sunnah.com page beside the English translation. Al-Bukhari placed the wudu report under a chapter on the superiority of sleeping in a state of ablution.

Sources: [1] [6] [5] [8] [9] [10] [12]

In Sahih al-Bukhari 247 the Prophet told al-Bara ibn Azib to make wudu as for prayer, lie on his right side and say the supplication below as his last words, adding that whoever dies that night dies upon the fitrah, the natural faith. When al-Bara repeated it saying ‘your Messenger’, the Prophet corrected him to ‘your Prophet whom You sent’.

Sahih al-Bukhari 6313 records a close variant that opens Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilayk, ‘I submit myself to You’, and adds wa wajjahtu wajhi ilayk, ‘and I turn my face to You’. Both wordings are recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari; choose one and learn it exactly from its linked page.

• Allahumma aslamtu wajhi ilayk, wa fawwadtu amri ilayk, wa alja'tu zahri ilayk, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilayk. La malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilayk. Allahumma amantu bi-kitabika-lladhi anzalt, wa bi-nabiyyika-lladhi arsalt. — O Allah, I submit my face to You, entrust my affairs to You and rest my back upon You, in hope and in fear of You. There is no refuge and no escape from You except to You. O Allah, I believe in Your Book which You sent down and in Your Prophet whom You sent (Sahih al-Bukhari 247).
• Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilayk, wa fawwadtu amri ilayk, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilayk, wa alja'tu zahri ilayk ... — the opening of the variant wording (Sahih al-Bukhari 6313).

Sources: [1] [2]

The shortest bedtime supplication is Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya, which Hudhayfah reported the Prophet saying when he intended to sleep (Sahih al-Bukhari 6324); in 6314 he placed his hand under his cheek and said Allahumma bismika amutu wa ahya. Quran 39:42 describes Allah taking souls at death and during sleep, keeping some and releasing the rest until an appointed term.

Two further supplications are reported. The first follows shaking out the bed, and its words echo that verse; the second asks for protection on the Day of Resurrection.

• Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya — In Your name, O Allah, I die and I live (Sahih al-Bukhari 6324).
• Bismika Rabbi wada'tu janbi, wa bika arfa'uh. In amsakta nafsi farhamha, wa in arsaltaha fahfazha bima tahfazu bihi 'ibadakas-salihin. — In Your name, my Lord, I lay down my side, and by You I raise it. If You hold back my soul, have mercy on it; if You release it, protect it as You protect Your righteous servants (Sahih al-Bukhari 6320).
• Allahumma qini 'adhabaka yawma tab'athu 'ibadak — O Allah, protect me from Your punishment on the day You raise up Your servants (Sunan Abi Dawud 5045; the grading line attributed to al-Albani reads, in Arabic, sahih without the words ‘three times’).

Sources: [3] [5] [19] [6] [7]

Four recitations have clear bedtime reports. In Sahih al-Bukhari 2311, Abu Hurairah was told that whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi on going to bed will have a guardian from Allah and no devil will approach him until morning; the Prophet said the speaker had told the truth though he was a liar, and identified him as Satan.

The three Quls are recited with a particular action: Aishah described the Prophet cupping his hands, blowing into them, reciting and then wiping over as much of his body as he could. Our Ayatul Kursi and three Quls guides explain these passages in more depth.

• Ayat al-Kursi, Quran 2:255 — recited on going to bed (Sahih al-Bukhari 2311).
• Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas — recited into cupped hands, then wiping over the body, beginning with the head, face and front, three times (Sahih al-Bukhari 5017).
• The last two verses of Al-Baqarah, Quran 2:285–286 — sufficient for whoever recites them at night (Sahih al-Bukhari 5009).
• Al-Kafirun — recite it and sleep at its end, as a declaration of freedom from associating partners with Allah (Sunan Abi Dawud 5055; Sahih, al-Albani).

Sources: [8] [20] [9] [10] [21] [22] [11]

Fatimah, worn out by grinding at the hand mill, asked her father for a servant. The Prophet came to her and Ali after they had gone to bed and taught them something he called better than a servant: at bedtime, say Allahu akbar thirty-four times, Subhan Allah thirty-three times and Alhamdu lillah thirty-three times (Sahih al-Bukhari 3705).

The narration in Sahih al-Bukhari 6318 gives thirty-three for each phrase and quotes Ibn Sirin saying the tasbih is thirty-four. A counter can help you keep track, but saying the words attentively matters more than speed.

• Allahu akbar — Allah is the Greatest (34 times; Sahih al-Bukhari 3705).
• Subhan Allah — Glory be to Allah (33 times).
• Alhamdu lillah — Praise be to Allah (33 times).

Sources: [12] [13]

On waking the Prophet said Alhamdu lillahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhin-nushur, according to Hudhayfah in Sahih al-Bukhari 6324; the same words appear in 6312 and 6314. It thanks Allah for another day and recalls that everyone will be raised to meet Him. The word guide may help while you learn the Arabic from the linked page.

• Alhamdu lillahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhin-nushur — Praise be to Allah who gave us life after He had caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection (Sahih al-Bukhari 6324).
• Word guide: ahyana, He gave us life; amatana, He caused us to die; ilayhi, to Him; an-nushur, the resurrection or rising up.

Sources: [3] [4] [5]

Sahih al-Bukhari 1154 records a remembrance for anyone who wakes during the night. The report says that whoever says it and then asks, O Allah, forgive me, or makes another supplication, will be answered, and that if he makes wudu and prays, his prayer will be accepted. Learn it in stages if it feels long.

• La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir. Alhamdu lillah, wa subhanallah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. — None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, without partner; His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He has power over all things. Praise be to Allah, glory be to Allah, none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, Allah is the Greatest, and there is no might and no power except with Allah (Sahih al-Bukhari 1154).
• Allahummaghfir li — O Allah, forgive me (Sahih al-Bukhari 1154).

Sources: [14]

The Prophet said that a good dream is from Allah and a bad dream is from Satan, and that whoever sees a dream he dislikes should spit to his left three times and seek refuge in Allah from its evil, for it will not harm him (Sahih Muslim 2261a). Sahih Muslim 2262 adds seeking refuge from Satan three times and turning over.

Sahih al-Bukhari 7044 says not to tell anyone about a disliked dream, and Sahih Muslim 2263a adds getting up to pray. These reports describe actions rather than one fixed formula, so sincere words of seeking refuge in Allah are suitable.

• Seek refuge in Allah from Satan and from the dream’s evil (Sahih Muslim 2261a and 2262).
• Spit to your left three times (Sahih Muslim 2261a and 2262).
• Turn over from the side you were sleeping on (Sahih Muslim 2262).
• Do not relate the dream to others (Sahih al-Bukhari 7044).
• Get up and pray (Sahih Muslim 2263a).

Sources: [15] [16] [17] [18]

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