Severe distress
The moment when everything presses in at once
67 verified supplications · 52 written out in full
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ السَّمَوَاتِ …
When distress presses on you
The words the Prophet ﷺ turned to at moments of overwhelming distress.
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
When you feel trapped with no way out
Yūnus ﷺ called on Allah from inside the whale, in darkness upon darkness
يَـٰبَنِىَّ ٱذْهَبُوا۟ فَتَحَسَّسُوا۟ مِن يُوسُفَ وَأَخِيهِ وَلَا تَا۟يْـَٔسُوا۟ مِن رَّوْحِ …
When you have almost given up
Yaʿqūb ﷺ said this after losing two sons and his eyesight, still refusin
يَا حَىُّ يَا قَيُّومُ بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ
When something is wearing you down
What the Prophet ﷺ turned to whenever a matter distressed him.
فَإِذَا بَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ فَارِقُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ …
When there seems to be no way out
A promise attached to one condition, and to provision from a direction y
۞ وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ
When you have been unwell a long time
Ayyūb ﷺ lost his health, his wealth and his children, and said seven wor
فَسَقَىٰ لَهُمَا ثُمَّ تَوَلَّىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلظِّلِّ فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى لِمَآ أَنزَلْتَ إِلَىَّ …
When you have nothing and no one
Mūsā ﷺ said this alone in Madyan, having fled with nothing, sitting in t
اللَّهُمَّ أَغِثْنَا، اللَّهُمَّ أَغِثْنَا، اللَّهُمَّ أَغِثْنَا
When the land is dry and you need rain
Said three times over, plainly, when the people came asking.
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ
When the news is bad
Said at the moment of distress, naming Allah three times over.
أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَهُوَ سَاجِدٌ فَأَكْثِرُوا الدُّعَاءَ
The place you are nearest to Him
The Prophet ﷺ named the exact posture in which a servant is closest to h
اللَّهُمَّ حَوَالَيْنَا، وَلاَ عَلَيْنَا
When there is too much rain
They had asked for rain and it did not stop. So he ﷺ asked again, differ
وَضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱمْرَأَتَ فِرْعَوْنَ إِذْ قَالَتْ رَبِّ ٱبْنِ …
When home is not safe
The prayer of a woman married to Pharaoh, asking to be built a house som
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، وَمِنْ عَذَابِ النَّارِ، وَمِنْ …
When everything feels like it is going wrong at once
Refuge from the trials of living and of dying, sought in the prayer itse
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِى يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا …
A short one, when you cannot manage more
Said by people in the Qur'an who had nothing left to argue with.
فَدَعَا رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّى مَغْلُوبٌ فَٱنتَصِرْ
When you have been beaten down by it
Nūḥ ﷺ after centuries of being mocked, in six words.
أُوصِيكَ يَا مُعَاذُ لاَ تَدَعَنَّ فِي دُبُرِ كُلِّ صَلاَةٍ تَقُولُ اللَّهُمَّ أَعِنِّي عَلَى …
The one he ﷺ told Muʿādh never to leave
He took him by the hand, said he loved him, and told him not to drop thi
تَعَوَّذُوا بِاللَّهِ مِنْ جَهْدِ الْبَلاَءِ، وَدَرَكِ الشَّقَاءِ، وَسُوءِ الْقَضَاءِ …
Four things to seek refuge from
Named together, and the last of them is about other people.
مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَمَن يُؤْمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ يَهْدِ …
When something happens that you cannot make sense of
What is promised to the one who believes when it lands on him.
رَّبَّنَا ٱكْشِفْ عَنَّا ٱلْعَذَابَ إِنَّا مُؤْمِنُونَ
When you just want it to stop
Said by a people under a punishment they could no longer bear.
يَنْزِلُ رَبُّنَا تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا حِينَ …
Why people set an alarm for the middle of the night
What happens in the final third, described by the Prophet ﷺ.
أَحَسِبَ ٱلنَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوٓا۟ أَن يَقُولُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ وَلَقَدْ …
When faith has turned out to be harder than expected
A question put at the start of a sūrah.
وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ ٱللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُۥٓ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ …
When you have run out of people to ask
A statement about where harm and good actually come from.
وَمَآ أَصَـٰبَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُوا۟ عَن كَثِيرٍ
Reading a hardship without blaming yourself for all of it
A verse that names a cause, and another beside it that names pardon.
أَمَّن يُجِيبُ ٱلْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ ٱلسُّوٓءَ وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَآءَ …
Who answers when you are at the end of it
A question the Qur'an asks rather than answers, because the answer is ob
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ إِنْ تَشَأْ لاَ تُعْبَدْ فِي الأَرْضِ
Said on the worst day of his life
At Uḥud, with the dead around him and his own face bleeding.
إِنَّ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ آيَتَانِ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ، لاَ يَنْخَسِفَانِ لِمَوْتِ أَحَدٍ …
When something in the sky frightens people
His son had just died and the sun eclipsed. People connected the two.
اللَّهُمَّ اسْقِنَا، اللَّهُمَّ اسْقِنَا، اللَّهُمَّ اسْقِنَا
A man stood up mid-sermon and asked
The livestock were dying. He interrupted the Friday sermon to say so.
ٱدْعُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُعْتَدِينَ
How to ask
An instruction about volume and manner.
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْشُدُكَ عَهْدَكَ وَوَعْدَكَ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ شِئْتَ لَمْ تُعْبَدْ
Holding Him to a promise He made
In his tent at Badr, outnumbered three to one.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۗ وَنَبْلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً ۖ وَإِلَيْنَا …
Good is a test as much as bad
A verse that names both directions.
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّىٰ نَعْلَمَ ٱلْمُجَـٰهِدِينَ مِنكُمْ وَٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَا۟ …
Stated in the first person, plainly
Not if, but until.
سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ، مَاذَا أُنْزِلَ مِنَ الْخَزَائِنِ وَمَاذَا أُنْزِلَ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ
Woken by something he had been shown
Umm Salama heard him get up in the night saying it.
مَنْ نَفَّسَ عَنْ مُؤْمِنٍ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرَبِ الدُّنْيَا نَفَّسَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً …
An exchange offered for helping someone
The relief you give is matched with relief you receive.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَجْمَعُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ الأَوَّلِينَ وَالآخِرِينَ فِي صَعِيدٍ وَاحِدٍ …
People going from prophet to prophet
Each one names a reason to send them on to the next.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَنْشُدُكَ عَهْدَكَ وَوَعْدَكَ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ تَشَأْ لاَ تُعْبَدْ بَعْدَ …
The night he would not stop asking
Abū Bakr eventually took hold of his hand and told him it was enough.
اللَّهُمَّ كَانَ لِي أَبَوَانِ شَيْخَانِ كَبِيرَانِ فَكُنْتُ لاَ أَغْبُقُ قَبْلَهُمَا أَهْلاً …
Three men sealed in by a rock
Each asked to be released by one deed nobody had seen.
هَاجَرَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ بِسَارَةَ، دَخَلَ بِهَا قَرْيَةً فِيهَا مَلِكٌ مِنَ الْمُلُوكِ أَوْ …
Sarah's prayer when a tyrant reached for her
Ibrāhīm was told to say she was his sister, and the king sent for her.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا كُنَّا نَتَوَسَّلُ إِلَيْكَ بِنَبِيِّنَا فَتَسْقِينَا
ʿUmar asking rain through the Prophet's uncle
He would not use the Prophet's name after his death, and asked al-ʿAbbās
اللَّهُمَّ أَعُوذُ بِرِضَاكَ مِنْ سَخَطِكَ وَبِمُعَافَاتِكَ مِنْ عُقُوبَتِكَ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ …
Seeking refuge in Him from Him
Aisha found him in prostration in the dark and heard this.
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْجِزْ لِي مَا وَعَدْتَنِي اللَّهُمَّ آتِ مَا وَعَدْتَنِي اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ …
Said at Badr until his cloak fell
ʿUmar watched him keep at it with his hands raised.
اللَّهُمَّ اسْقِنَا غَيْثًا مُغِيثًا مَرِيئًا مَرِيعاً نَافِعًا غَيْرَ ضَارٍّ عَاجِلاً غَيْرَ …
What he asked for when they came to him crying
Every adjective in it is doing work.
اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي وَأَعْقِبْنِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا
The words Umm Salamah could not bring herself to mean
She said them and then argued with herself about them.
اللَّهُمَّ احْبِسْهَا عَلَيْنَا
A prophet who asked for the sun to wait
He had told certain people not to follow him.
أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْهَرَمِ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ …
Six things he took shelter from
They run from the start of a life to the end of it.
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ …
What he said when something bore down on him
Three sentences that name nothing except who is being addressed.
أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ وَمِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا …
What he told them to seek refuge from before finishing
Two of the four have not happened yet.
أَسْأَلُكَ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَتَرْكَ الْمُنْكَرَاتِ وَحُبَّ الْمَسَاكِينِ وَإِذَا أَرَدْتَ …
What he was told to ask for in the dream
It came at the end of a question about the highest assembly.
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ، مَاذَا أُنْزِلَ اللَّيْلَةَ مِنَ الْفِتْنَةِ، مَاذَا أُنْزِلَ مِنَ …
What he was saying when he woke in the night
Umm Salamah heard it as he came out of sleep.
لاَ تَدْخُلُوا عَلَى هَؤُلاَءِ الْمُعَذَّبِينَ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكُونُوا بَاكِينَ، فَإِنْ لَمْ …
What he said passing the ruins
He covered his head and hurried the animal through.
فِتْنَةُ الرَّجُلِ فِي أَهْلِهِ وَمَالِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَجَارِهِ تُكَفِّرُهَا الصَّلاَةُ …
What the ordinary acts wipe out
Hudhayfah was asked who remembered him saying it.
قَدْ أُرِيتُ الآنَ ـ مُنْذُ صَلَّيْتُ لَكُمُ الصَّلاَةَ ـ الْجَنَّةَ وَالنَّارَ …
What he had just seen while leading them
He climbed the pulpit straight after the prayer.
رَأَيْتُ الْجَيْشَ بِعَيْنَىَّ، وَإِنِّي أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَانُ فَالنَّجَا النَّجَاءَ
The comparison he made for his own message
The man in the story had nothing to show for it but his own eyes.
From the wider collections
Each of these passed the same grading rule. They are shown with the source narration rather than a written-out translation.
أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ سُوءِ الْفِتَنِ
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7090 · Afflictions and the End of the World
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي وَأَخْلِفْ لِي …
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2127 · The Book of Prayer - Funerals
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَرَّمَ مَكَّةَ فَجَعَلَهَا حَرَمًا وَإِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ …
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 3336 · The Book of Pilgrimage
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ } اللَّهُمَّ عِنْدَكَ أَحْتَسِبُ مُصِيبَتِي …
Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3119 · Funerals (Kitab Al-Jana'iz)
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي لاَ يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَىْءٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلاَ فِي السَّمَاءِ …
Sunan Abī Dāwūd 5088 · General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)
رَبِّكَ الأَعْلَى } وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا وَنَحْوِهِمَا
Sunan an-Nasā'ī 984 · The Book of the Commencement of the Prayer
رَبِّكَ الأَعْلَى } وَالضُّحَى وَ { إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ }
Sunan an-Nasā'ī 997 · The Book of the Commencement of the Prayer
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي عَافَانِي مِمَّا ابْتَلاَكَ بِهِ وَفَضَّلَنِي عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِمَّنْ …
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3431 · Chapters on Supplication
إنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ ) اللَّهُمَّ عِنْدَكَ احْتَسَبْتُ مُصِيبَتِي …
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3511 · Chapters on Supplication
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ عَلَى ابْنِ آدَمَ حَظَّهُ مِنَ الزِّنَا، أَدْرَكَ ذَلِكَ لاَ مَحَالَةَ …
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6243 · Asking Permission
مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ كَمَثَلِ الزَّرْعِ لاَ تَزَالُ الرِّيحُ تُمِيلُهُ وَلاَ يَزَالُ الْمُؤْمِنُ …
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 7092 · Characteristics of the Day of Judgment, Paradise, and Hell
مَنْ قَالَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي لاَ يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَىْءٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلاَ فِي …
Sunan Abī Dāwūd 5088 · General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)
الأَنْبِيَاءُ ثُمَّ الأَمْثَلُ فَالأَمْثَلُ فَيُبْتَلَى الرَّجُلُ عَلَى حَسَبِ دِينِهِ فَإِنْ …
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2398 · Chapters On Zuhd
مَا يَزَالُ الْبَلاَءُ بِالْمُؤْمِنِ وَالْمُؤْمِنَةِ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَمَالِهِ حَتَّى …
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2399 · Chapters On Zuhd
يَوَدُّ أَهْلُ الْعَافِيَةِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حِينَ يُعْطَى أَهْلُ الْبَلاَءِ الثَّوَابَ …
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2402 · Chapters On Zuhd