Dua Before Sleeping: The Prophet's ﷺ Nightly Sunnah

The most direct supplication is also the easiest to carry. When the Prophet ﷺ went to his bed, he would say a single line that reframes what sleep even is — a small death, from which waking is a renewed gift of life:

It is only a handful of words, yet it hands the whole unconscious night back to the One who holds it. You do not guard your own breathing while you sleep; He does. And when the same narration describes the morning, it teaches the mirror of this line — a small ritual of gratitude for being returned to the day:

Learn these two together and you have bookends for every day: a name on your lips as you drift off, and praise on your tongue as you wake.

Among the verses tied to the night, Āyat al-Kursī — the Verse of the Throne (Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:255) — stands out. In a well-known narration, Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was taught by a night-visitor that whoever recites this verse on going to bed will have a guardian from Allah, and no devil will come near him until morning. When Abū Hurayrah reported it, the Prophet ﷺ confirmed that the words were true, though the one who spoke them was a liar — it was Shayṭān himself (Sahih al-Bukhari 2311).

It is a striking lesson: the truth is the truth even when it comes from an unexpected mouth, and the Prophet ﷺ endorsed the practice. Recite Āyat al-Kursī as you settle, understanding its meaning — that Allah is the Living, the Sustainer, whom neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes, and whose knowledge and throne encompass the heavens and the earth. It is the perfect verse to hold in mind precisely as your own wakefulness slips away.

Two more recitations belong to the nightly routine, and both are firmly established in the Ṣaḥīḥ.

The first is the last two verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah (2:285–286). The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever recites these two verses at night, they will suffice him (Sahih al-Bukhari 5009) — scholars explain this as sufficing him against harm, or in place of the night prayer, or both. They are verses of belief, mercy and a plea not to be burdened beyond one's strength: a fitting note to end the day on.

The second is the three Quls. ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that every night, when the Prophet ﷺ went to bed, he would cup his hands together, recite Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat al-Nās into them, then blow gently and wipe his hands over as much of his body as he could reach — starting with his head, face and the front of his body — repeating this three times (Sahih al-Bukhari 5017). Al-Falaq and al-Nās in particular are the two chapters of seeking refuge, revealed for exactly this kind of protection.

You can read and hear all of these — Āyat al-Kursī, the last verses of al-Baqarah and the three Quls — in the whole Quran with audio and tafsir, which makes them easy to recite from memory once you have heard them a few times.

Yes — one of the most beautiful supplications in the Sunnah is the one the Prophet ﷺ taught al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib (may Allah be pleased with him) to say after lying down on the right side. It is a duʿāʾ of total surrender:

The Prophet ﷺ added something remarkable: make these the last words you speak, and if you die that night, you die upon thefiṭrah — the natural, sound state of faith. That single instruction tells you how to order the routine: everything else can come first, but let this duʿāʾ, or the words of tawḥīd, be the very last thing on your tongue.

The Prophet's ﷺ bedtime was a small, unhurried ritual, and the acts around the words matter too. Gathered from the authentic narrations, a simple order looks like this:

• Dust off the bed before lying down — the Prophet ﷺ taught brushing the bedding three times with the edge of one's garment, for you do not know what settled there after you left it (Sahih al-Bukhari 6320).
• Lie on your right side, placing the right hand under the cheek, as the Prophet ﷺ did before making the duʿāʾ of entrusting himself to Allah (Sahih al-Bukhari 247).
• Recite Āyat al-Kursī, the last two verses of al-Baqarah, and the three Quls with the wiping described above.
• Close with the Tasbīḥ of Fāṭimah — SubḥānAllāh 33 times, al-ḥamdu lillāh 33 times and Allāhu akbar 34 times, which the Prophet ﷺ said is better for the tired than a servant (Sahih al-Bukhari 5362).
• Make the words of tawḥīd your last — “Bismika Allāhumma amūtu wa aḥyā.”

None of this needs to be long. The whole sequence takes a couple of minutes, and its purpose is not to add labour to a tired body but to hand the night, honestly and simply, to Allah.

The obstacle is rarely knowledge — it is memory at the exact moment we are least alert. A supplication only helps when it is already on the tongue by the time the lamp is off. A few practical steps:

• Start with one line. Memorise “Bismika Allāhumma amūtu wa aḥyā” tonight and let it become automatic before adding more.
• Attach the routine to an existing cue — the moment your head touches the pillow, or the last time you set your phone down.
• Pair the sleeping adhkār with your morning ones, so the day is bookended by remembrance rather than by a scroll.
• Keep the verses within reach until they are memorised, then recite from the heart in the dark.

If it helps to have them gathered in one place — Arabic, transliteration, translation and source — Itabah's daily duʿāʾ collection carries the sleeping adhkār from Ḥiṣn al-Muslim, and its gentle companions can turn a restless feeling into an authentic supplication, grounded in the Quran and Sunnah. For the fuller morning-and-evening rhythm these fit inside, see our guide to the authentic morning and evening adhkār.