Duas Before Sleep: The Complete Bedtime Supplication Guide

The Sunnah of Sleep

The Prophet (peace be upon him) didn’t just fall asleep. He had a complete bedtime routine — a set of actions, duas, and supplications that prepared his body and soul for rest. Sleep, in Islam, is not just a biological necessity. It’s a minor form of death, and each morning is a minor resurrection.

Allah says: “It is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day.” (Quran 6:60)

Knowing this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never went to sleep without entrusting himself to Allah, seeking protection, and reciting specific portions of the Quran. These bedtime supplications ensure that if you don’t wake — if this sleep is your last — you meet Allah in a state of remembrance.

And if you do wake, you begin the new day already wrapped in the barakah of the words you slept upon.

Preparing for Sleep

Before the duas themselves, the Sunnah includes several preparatory actions:

1. Perform wudu. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When you go to bed, perform wudu as you would for prayer.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

2. Dust off the bed. Brush your bed three times with the edge of your garment before lying down. The Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed this as a means of removing anything harmful.

3. Lie on your right side. The Sunnah sleep position is on the right side, with the right hand under the cheek.

4. Put your phone away. This isn’t from a hadith — but it’s wisdom for our age. The duas below work best when you’re transitioning into genuine rest, not when your mind is still buzzing from a screen.

The Complete Bedtime Duas

1. Bismika Allahumma

Arabic: بِاسْمِكَ اللَّهُمَّ أَمُوتُ وَأَحْيَا

Transliteration: Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya.

Translation: “In Your name, O Allah, I die and I live.”

This is the core bedtime dhikr. It acknowledges that sleep is in Allah’s hands — that you’re entrusting your consciousness to Him. And it expresses hope that He will return it to you in the morning.

2. The Dua of Entrusting Yourself to Allah

Arabic: اللَّهُمَّ أَسْلَمْتُ نَفْسِي إِلَيْكَ، وَوَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِي إِلَيْكَ، وَفَوَّضْتُ أَمْرِي إِلَيْكَ، وَأَلْجَأْتُ ظَهْرِي إِلَيْكَ، رَغْبَةً وَرَهْبَةً إِلَيْكَ، لَا مَلْجَأَ وَلَا مَنْجَا مِنْكَ إِلَّا إِلَيْكَ، آمَنْتُ بِكِتَابِكَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْتَ وَبِنَبِيِّكَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلْتَ

Transliteration: Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilayka, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilayka, wa fawwadtu amri ilayka, wa alja’tu dhahri ilayka, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilayka. La malja’a wa la manja minka illa ilayka. Amantu bi kitabikal-ladhi anzalta, wa bi nabiyyikal-ladhi arsalta.

Translation: “O Allah, I have submitted my soul to You, turned my face to You, entrusted my affairs to You, and leaned my back on You, out of hope and fear of You. There is no refuge or escape from You except to You. I believe in Your Book which You revealed, and in Your Prophet whom You sent.”

Note: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If you die that night, you die upon the fitrah (natural state of Islam).” He told us to make this the last thing we say before sleeping.

3. Ayat al-Kursi (Al-Baqarah 2:255)

Arabic: اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Transliteration: Allahu la ilaha illa Huwal-Hayyul-Qayyum. La ta’khudhuhu sinatun wa la nawm. Lahu ma fis-samawati wa ma fil-ard. Man dhal-ladhi yashfa’u ‘indahu illa bi-idhnih. Ya’lamu ma bayna aydeehim wa ma khalfahum. Wa la yuheetuna bi-shay’in min ‘ilmihi illa bima sha’. Wasi’a kursiyyuhus-samawati wal-ard. Wa la ya’uduhu hifdhuhuma. Wa Huwal-‘Aliyyul-‘Adheem.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If you recite Ayat al-Kursi before sleeping, Allah appoints a guardian over you and no devil will come near you until morning.” (Bukhari)

4. The Last Two Verses of Surah Al-Baqarah

Arabic: آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ

Transliteration: Amanar-Rasulu bima unzila ilayhi mir-Rabbihi wal-mu’minun. Kullun amana billahi wa mala’ikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi la nufarriqu bayna ahadin mir-rusulihi wa qalu sami’na wa ata’na ghufranaka Rabbana wa ilaykal-maseer.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever recites the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice him.” (Bukhari and Muslim) — meaning they provide sufficient protection for the night.

5. Surah Al-Mulk (67)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) would not sleep until he recited Surah Al-Mulk. He said: “There is a surah in the Quran of thirty verses that intercedes for a man until he is forgiven — it is Surah Tabarak (Al-Mulk).” (Tirmidhi)

This is a longer recitation (30 verses), but its reward is immense. If you’re building toward a complete bedtime routine, start with the shorter duas above and add Surah Al-Mulk once those are established.

6. The Three Quls (Blown into Hands)

The method: Cup your hands together, blow into them gently, then recite Surah Al-Ikhlas, Surah Al-Falaq, and Surah An-Nas. After each surah (or after all three), pass your hands over your body — starting with the head and face, then the front of the body — as far as your hands can reach.

Repeat this three times.

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: “Every night when the Prophet went to bed, he would cup his hands together, blow into them, recite the three Quls, then wipe his hands over whatever he could of his body.” (Bukhari)

7. SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar

Recite: SubhanAllah (33 times), Alhamdulillah (33 times), Allahu Akbar (34 times).

The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught this to Fatimah and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) when Fatimah asked for a servant to help with housework. He said: “Shall I not direct you to something better than a servant?” — and taught them this tasbih before sleep. He said: “That is better for you than a servant.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

8. The Dua for Waking in the Night

If you wake during the night:

Arabic: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ

Transliteration: La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer. SubhanAllahi walhamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illallahu wallahu akbar wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever wakes in the night and says this, then says ‘Allahumma-ghfir li’ (O Allah, forgive me) — or makes any dua — it will be accepted. And if he makes wudu and prays, his prayer will be accepted.” (Bukhari)

Building Your Bedtime Routine

You don’t need to recite all of these from night one. Build gradually:

Week 1: Start with “Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya” + Ayat al-Kursi + Three Quls blown over body. This takes 2-3 minutes.

Week 2: Add the dua of entrusting yourself to Allah and the tasbih (33-33-34). Now you’re at about 5 minutes.

Week 3: Add the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah. About 7 minutes total.

Week 4: Add Surah Al-Mulk. Your full routine is now 10-15 minutes.

Practical Tips for Consistency

Replace the scroll. Most people spend 20-40 minutes on their phone before sleep. The complete bedtime adhkar take 10-15 minutes. You’re not adding time — you’re replacing low-quality screen time with high-quality worship.

Put your phone to bed first. Plug it in across the room (or outside the bedroom entirely) before you begin your adhkar. This removes the temptation to “quickly check” something.

Keep a printed card on your nightstand. Having the duas in physical form means you don’t need to open a phone app (and risk getting pulled into notifications).

Don’t worry about perfection. If you fall asleep during the adhkar, that’s not failure — you literally fell asleep in a state of dhikr. That’s beautiful.

If you have trouble sleeping: The bedtime adhkar often help with insomnia. The repetitive nature of tasbih and Quran recitation calms the nervous system. Many people report falling asleep faster once they establish this routine.

The Reward of Sleeping in Remembrance

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When you go to your bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi, and you will be protected by Allah, and no devil will come near you until morning.” (Bukhari)

He also said: “Whoever lies in bed and recites Surah Al-Ikhlas, Surah Al-Falaq, and Surah An-Nas, and then blows over himself — Allah protects him from every evil.” (Tirmidhi)

And the beauty is: even the time spent sleeping after these supplications is counted as worship. You literally earn reward while unconscious, because you prepared for sleep as the Prophet taught.

For a comprehensive guide to dua — including etiquette, best times, and how to build a consistent supplication practice — read our complete dua guide.

Tonight, try just one dua before sleep. Let it be the last thing on your lips before you close your eyes. Tomorrow morning, see how differently the day begins.

Sleep in His remembrance. Wake in His mercy.

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Keep Reading

Start with the complete guide: Dua Guide: Connecting with Allah Through Supplication

• 30 Daily Duas Every Muslim Should Know
• Dua Etiquette: 10 Rules for Making Your Supplications Accepted
• The 99 Names of Allah: A Dhikr and Reflection Guide

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