What he told al-Bara to say lying down
Five verbs, and every one of them gives something away.
اللَّهُمَّ أَسْلَمْتُ نَفْسِي إِلَيْكَ، وَوَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِي إِلَيْكَ، وَفَوَّضْتُ أَمْرِي إِلَيْكَ، وَأَلْجَأْتُ ظَهْرِي إِلَيْكَ، رَغْبَةً وَرَهْبَةً إِلَيْكَ، لاَ مَلْجَأَ وَلاَ مَنْجَا مِنْكَ إِلاَّ إِلَيْكَ
Allāhumma aslamtu nafsī ilayk, wa wajjahtu wajhī ilayk, wa fawwaḍtu amrī ilayk, wa aljaʾtu ẓahrī ilayk, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilayk. Lā maljaʾa wa lā manjā minka illā ilayk
“O Allah, I have handed myself over to You, and turned my face to You, and committed my affair to You, and put my back against You, out of hope in You and fear of You. There is no shelter and no escape from You except to You.”
He told al-Bara that if he died that night, he would die on the natural state.
Where this comes from
He lay on his right side and said it. Ẓahr is the back, the side you cannot watch. The last sentence is the strange one: the only place to run from Him is towards Him.
The full narration
Narrated Al-Bara' bin `Azib:When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went to bed, he used to sleep on his right side and then say, "All-ahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa alja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La Malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabika al-ladhi anzalta wa nabiyyika al-ladhi arsalta! Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Whoever recites these words (before going to bed) and dies the same night, he will die on the Islamic religion (as a Muslim)
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 6315
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)