Hardship

When it did not work out

Rejection, failure, plans that collapsed

27 verified supplications · 25 written out in full

قَدَرُ اللَّهِ وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلَ

When something you did not want happened

The Prophet ﷺ taught what to say instead of 'if only'.

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ Muslim 6774

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرْهٌ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًٔا وَهُوَ …

When you did not get what you wanted

You may hate a thing and it is better for you. The knowing is His, not y

Qur'anQur'an 2:216

قُل لَّن يُصِيبَنَآ إِلَّا مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَنَا هُوَ مَوْلَىٰنَا ۚ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ …

When you are frightened of what might happen

What the believers are told to say about anything that could come.

Qur'anQur'an 9:51

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِقَوْمِي فَإِنَّهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

When you could ask for them to be punished

Said by the Prophet ﷺ at Ṭā'if, bleeding, after the town had driven him

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3477

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ دَوْسًا وَائْتِ بِهِمْ

For people who have rejected you

They asked him ﷺ to curse a tribe that had refused him. He asked for the

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2937

وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَا ٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا …

When you have overdone it and lost ground

Said by those the Qur'an describes after a battle went badly.

Qur'anQur'an 3:147

إِذْ قَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ عِمْرَٰنَ رَبِّ إِنِّى نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِى بَطْنِى مُحَرَّرًا …

Before a child is even born

The wife of ʿImrān promised what was in her womb, then found it was not

Qur'anQur'an 3:35-36

وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ لِشَا۟ىْءٍ إِنِّى فَاعِلٌ ذَٰلِكَ غَدًا إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ …

When you say you will do something

A correction given for speaking about the future as though it were yours

Qur'anQur'an 18:23-24

وَلَا تَهِنُوا۟ وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا۟ وَأَنتُمُ ٱلْأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

When you are losing and it shows

Revealed after a battle that had gone badly.

Qur'anQur'an 3:139

أَلَآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ …

On fear and grief, and who is exempt

A description, not a promise of an easy life.

Qur'anQur'an 10:62-64

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ وُدًّا

When you feel disliked

A promise about how other people will come to feel about you.

Qur'anQur'an 19:96

أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَتَ رَبِّكَ ۚ نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّعِيشَتَهُمْ فِى …

When someone else got what you were qualified for

A statement about who is doing the distributing.

Qur'anQur'an 43:32

مَا كَانَ لِأَهْلِ ٱلْمَدِينَةِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَعْرَابِ أَن يَتَخَلَّفُوا۟ عَن …

Nothing goes unrecorded

A verse listing what is written down for a person.

Qur'anQur'an 9:120

مَا كَانَ لِأَهْلِ ٱلْمَدِينَةِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَعْرَابِ أَن يَتَخَلَّفُوا۟ عَن …

On effort that seems to have gone nowhere

A short guarantee attached to good work.

Qur'anQur'an 9:120-121

قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ إِذَا تَحَدَّثَ عَبْدِي بِأَنْ يَعْمَلَ حَسَنَةً فَأَنَا …

How intentions are counted before you act

The arithmetic is different in each direction.

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ Muslim 336

مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِى كِتَـٰبٍ مِّن …

A rule about looking backwards

One word is singled out as opening a door.

Qur'anQur'an 57:22-23

فَٱعْبُدُوا۟ مَا شِئْتُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ ٱلَّذِينَ خَسِرُوٓا۟ …

What real loss is defined as

Not money, not health, not reputation.

Qur'anQur'an 39:15

يُجَاءُ بِنُوحٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَيُقَالُ لَهُ هَلْ بَلَّغْتَ فَيَقُولُ نَعَمْ يَا رَبِّ …

A prophet's community called as witnesses against him

Nūḥ ﷺ is asked whether he conveyed, and his people deny it.

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7349

انْظُرُوا إِلَى عَبْدِي رَجَعَ رَغْبَةً فِيمَا عِنْدِي وَشَفَقَةً مِمَّا عِنْدِي

The man who ran, then turned around

Everyone around him had already fled.

ḤasanSunan Abī Dāwūd 2536

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ

What seals a gathering

Said three times on standing up, and it works both ways.

ṢaḥīḥSunan Abī Dāwūd 4857

قَالَ رَبِّ وَمَاذَا أَكْتُبُ قَالَ اكْتُبْ مَقَادِيرَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَتَّى تَقُومَ السَّاعَةُ

The first thing created, and what it was told

Ubadah told his son this to explain what belief tastes like.

ṢaḥīḥSunan Abī Dāwūd 4700

أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَمِلْتُ وَمِنْ شَرِّ مَا لَمْ أَعْمَلْ

Refuge from something not yet committed

The second half is the unusual one.

ṢaḥīḥSunan an-Nasā'ī 5525

أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةِ الْعَدُوِّ وَشَمَاتَةِ الأَعْدَاءِ

Three ways of being beaten

The third one is not about losing at all.

ṢaḥīḥSunan an-Nasā'ī 5475

مَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ عَنْ شَىْءٍ فَلْيَسْأَلْ، فَلاَ تَسْأَلُونِي عَنْ شَىْءٍ إِلاَّ …

The one time he opened the floor completely

People began asking, and it was not a comfortable session.

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 540

تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الدِّينَارِ وَالدِّرْهَمِ وَالْقَطِيفَةِ وَالْخَمِيصَةِ، إِنْ أُعْطِيَ رَضِيَ …

Who he called a slave, and to what

Four things listed, and none of them is a person.

ṢaḥīḥṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6435

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.

أَعَلَى أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ لَوْ أَنِّي لَمْ أَنْكِحْ أُمَّ سَلَمَةَ مَا حَلَّتْ لِي إِنَّ أَبَاهَا …

Sunan an-Nasā'ī 3286 · The Book of Marriage

Ṣaḥīḥ

الْمُؤْمِنُ الْقَوِيُّ خَيْرٌ وَأَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِ الضَّعِيفِ وَفِي كُلٍّ …

Sunan Ibn Mājah 4168 · Zuhd

Ṣaḥīḥ