Duas for Sleep: What to Say Before Sleeping (with Translation)

The most important sleep dua

The Prophet ﷺ taught this to his daughter Fatimah (رضي الله عنها) when she asked him for a servant. Instead, he gave her something he said was better than a servant.

SubhanAllah (33 times) · Alhamdulillah (33 times) · Allahu Akbar (34 times)

It is the closing dhikr before sleep, and it protects you through the night. Recite it last, after the other duas below.

The dua for the night

Before sleeping, the Prophet ﷺ would recite:

Bismika allahumma amutu wa ahya

On waking, he would complete it: "Alhamdulillahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhin-nushur" — "All praise is for Allah, who gave us life after He caused us to die, and to Him is the return."

The pairing is deliberate. Each sleep is a small death, each waking a small resurrection. The duas keep you conscious of what is actually happening every night.

Dua before sleep for protection

One of the most powerful sleep duas asks for protection over your whole being:

Bismika rabbi wada'tu janbi wa bika arfa'uh. Fa in amsakta nafsi farhamha, wa in arsaltaha fahfazha bima tahfazu bihi ibadakas-salihin.

This dua is especially meaningful because it acknowledges both outcomes of the night: the return to waking, or the return to Allah. Either way, you are in His hands.

The last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah

The Prophet ﷺ taught that whoever recites the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah at night is granted protection: "These two verses will suffice him." (Bukhari 4009)

The verses ask Allah for pardon, mercy, and help against the disbelieving people. They are long to recite from memory at first, but they become easy with repetition, and the reward is well documented.

Ayatul Kursi

Reciting Ayatul Kursi (the Throne Verse, Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255) before sleeping comes with a specific protection: "Allah has a guardian appointed over you, and no devil will approach you until the morning." (Bukhari 2311)

The verse describes the majesty of Allah: His dominion over the heavens and the earth, His knowledge, His Kursi, His preservation of creation. It is worth memorising for its own sake and is one of the most powerful verses of the Quran.

Two short surahs and the three quls

The Prophet ﷺ recommended blowing into cupped hands after reciting and wiping over the body:

"When you go to your bed, recite Ayatul Kursi... and Surah Al-Ikhlas, Surah Al-Falaq, and Surah An-Nas, blow into your hands, and wipe over your body."

The three quls (Ikhlas, Falaq, Nas) are together called the mu'awwidhat, the protective surahs. Recite them three times each before sleep, blow into your palms, and wipe over your face and body. This is the direct prophetic method for physical and spiritual protection through the night.

Duas for sleep: the complete list in order

Here is the full bedtime routine in the order the Sunnah suggests. You do not need all of it every night. Even one or two of these, done consistently, count as following the practice.

What sleep duas mean for your night

There is a reason the Prophet ﷺ packed so much meaning into this small window. The night is when the day's accounts are settled in the heart. The scholars taught that muhasaba, the nightly self-accounting, naturally happens before sleep, and the sleep duas are its conclusion.

You review your day before Allah, repent where you fell short, and then hand the night over to Him with the duas. The review gives the sleep duas their content. The sleep duas give the review its closure. The two practices belong together. The evening muhasaba guide explains the nightly accounting in full.

A dua for a peaceful night

If worry keeps you awake, this supplication from the Sunnah addresses the anxious heart directly:

Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilayk, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilayk, wa fawwadtu amri ilayk, wa alja'tu zahri ilayk, raghbatan wa rahbatun ilayk. La malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilayk. Amantu bikitabikal-ladhi anzalt, wa binabiyyikal-ladhi arsalt.

For anxiety more broadly, see the Muslim mental health guide and the duas for anxiety and stress. The sleep duas are the night-time form of a wider trust in Allah — the same trust the practice of tawakkul builds through the day.

Common mistakes with sleep duas

Begin the routine tonight

You do not need to memorise every dua at once. Begin with one: the short "Bismika allahumma amutu wa ahya," or the three quls with the blowing and wiping. Consistency matters more than completeness. One dua, every night, becomes the doorway to the rest.

The night is the only part of your day you cannot carry yourself. The duas are how you hand it over, review what passed, and rest in the protection of the One who never sleeps.