What to read when you can’t sleep
This is not a medical post. If you have not slept properly for weeks, see a doctor.
What the Sunnah gives is smaller and more dependable than a cure: a way to end the day that is not a screen, and words worth saying whether sleep comes quickly or not.
And made your sleep a means for rest
The routine
None of it is long. All of it together takes a few minutes, and every part stands on its own if you only manage one tonight.
Āyat al-Kursī. In a narration in al-Bukhārī, Abu Hurayrah was told that reciting it on going to bed brings a guardian from Allah for the night:
“Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayat-al-Kursi … (If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you and no satan will come near you till morning.”
The words came from an unlikely teacher, and the Prophet ﷺ confirmed them all the same: “He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar.” This is the āyah:
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is presently before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
The last two āyāt of al-Baqara (2:285–286).
“Whoever recites the last two verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah at a night, they will suffice him.”
The three Quls, into your hands. Al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq and an-Nās, recited into cupped palms and wiped over the body, three times:
“When the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) went to bed every night, he would join his palms together and blow into them and recite the Surahs al-Ikhlās, al-Falaq, and an-Nās, and then he would wipe with his hands over as many parts of his body as he could, starting with his head, face, and the front of his body. He used to do that three times.”
Thirty-three, thirty-three, thirty-four. Fāṭimah had asked for a servant to help with the grinding stone that had worn her hands, and was given this instead:
“Let me guide you to something better than what you asked for. When you go to bed, say ‘Subhān Allah’ (glory be to Allah) thirty-three times, ‘Alhamdulillāh’ (praise be to Allah) thirty-three times, and ‘Allāhu Akbar’ (Allah is the Most Great) thirty-four times. This is better for you than a servant.”
A du’ā as you lie down. Ḥudhayfah reported that when the Prophet ﷺ meant to sleep, he would put his hand under his head and say:
اللَّهُمَّ قِنِي عَذَابَكَ يَوْمَ تَجْمَعُ أَوْ تَبْعَثُ عِبَادَكَ
Allāhumma qinī ʿadhābaka yawma tajmaʿu — aw tabʿathu — ʿibādak
“O Allah, protect me from Your punishment on the Day You gather or resurrect Your servants.”
The “or” is the narrator’s: he was unsure which of the two words was said, and the report keeps both rather than guessing.
The best way of asking forgiveness, the one the Prophet ﷺ called its master:
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي، فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ
Allāhumma anta rabbi la ilāha illa ant khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduk wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa‘dika mastata‘t a‘ūdhu bika min sharri ma sana‘t abū’u laka bini‘matika ‘alayya wa abū’u bidhanbi faghfir li fa innahu la yaghfiru adh-dhunūba illa ant
“O Allah, You are my Lord. You created me, and I am Your slave. I will remain faithful to Your covenant and promise as much as possible. I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favor upon me, and I admit my sin. So, forgive me. Indeed, none can forgive sins but You.”
And of saying it at night, the same hadith continues:
“… whoever says it at night while being certain of its meaning then he dies before the morning, he will be from the people of Paradise.”
Worth adding: Sūrat al-Mulk
Thirty short āyāt that fit easily into the end of a day. The hadith about it is about the sūra’s worth rather than about bedtime:
“There is a Sūrah in the Qur’an consisting of thirty verses. It interceded for a man until he was forgiven. It is: {Blessed is He in Whose hand is the dominion.} [Sūrat al-Mulk].”
If sleep still does not come
Keep the remembrance going rather than reaching for the phone.
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ
Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.
And if the phone is the reason you are still awake, here are the settings that keep it out of the night.
A note on sources: every hadith here is graded authentic or ḥasan by HadeethEnc, or is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, and each links to where you can read it in full. The Qur’an is quoted from the Uthmani text and the Saheeh International translation.