Dua before sleeping: Arabic, pronunciation and meaning

What dua do you say before sleeping?

Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that whenever the Prophet intended to go to bed he said these words. A hadith is a report about the Prophet, and this one is in Sahih al-Bukhari 6324.

1AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 6324

This is one recorded sleeping dua. Another narration, Sahih al-Bukhari 6312, gives it without "Allahumma": Bismika amutu wa ahya. Learn whichever wording you have heard; a shorter one does not need to be padded out to match the other.

2AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 6312

Transliteration helps you recognise the words, but English letters cannot show every Arabic sound. Learn the Arabic with a teacher or a reliable human recitation if you can.

What do the words of the sleeping dua mean?

It is four Arabic words, so it is quick to learn. Say it is late, the phone is still lit beside the pillow and nothing comes to mind: four short words are easier to keep than a long script.

Why does a bedtime dua mention death?

The wording can feel surprising at first. The Dorar hadith commentary on this report says sleep is called a death because reason and movement go with it, and that the waking dua, "to Him is the resurrection", points from waking after sleep to resurrection after death (source 7). That explanation belongs to the commentary, not the hadith. The dua itself contains no promise about how quickly you will fall asleep.

What is the dua after sleeping?

On waking, the same report gives a different dua, which opens with praise to Allah.

The two duas are paired in the narration but are not interchangeable: the first begins "Bismika" and the waking dua begins "Alhamdu lillah". "Caused us to die" refers to sleep, as the pairing with the bedtime words shows.

What else is reported at bedtime?

Separate reports describe washing for prayer, lying on the right side and particular recitations. Read each on its own terms, rather than combining them into one compulsory script.

The longer dua of al-Bara

Al-Bara ibn Azib, may Allah be pleased with him, reported the Prophet telling him to make wudu as for prayer, lie on his right side and say the words below. The Prophet added that if he died, he would die on the fitrah (the Arabic word in the report, which it does not define), and to make these the last words he said. Al-Bara repeated it back with "wa birasulika" (and Your messenger) and the Prophet told him to say "wa binabiyyika" (and Your Prophet).

3AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 6311

Notice the timing of the Al-Baqarah report: it says in a night, not only at the moment before sleep, and it does not spell out a single meaning for "suffice".

4AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 2311

5AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 5009

The report about the three surahs comes from 'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. It describes wiping the head, face and the front of the body, then as much of the body as the hands could reach. The count of three belongs to that whole action, not to each surah and not to every bedtime dua.

6AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 5017

If you are learning several of these, give each its own place on a small reminder card. It is easier to remember which words belong together when they are not printed as one long paragraph.

Is there a dua to sleep instantly?

The bedtime reports on this page do not promise instant sleep. Their wording teaches remembrance and supplication, not a deadline for falling asleep. Saying the sleeping dua and still lying awake does not contradict anything these narrations say.

Claims such as "works in one minute" or "repeat this exact number to fall asleep" are not supported by the reports used here. If sleep is a lasting problem, a GP is the right person to ask.