Du’ās for anxiety, with their sources

Worry and grief are not a sign that something is wrong with your faith. The Sunnah speaks of them as things that reach believers, and of what they are worth:

“No fatigue, disease, sorrow, sadness, harm, or distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were a prick of a thorn, but Allah will expiate some of his sins thereby.”

A du’ā is also not a replacement for help. If worry is taking over your days, talk to a doctor or to someone you trust. The means and the reliance belong in the same sentence, as they do in this hadith:

“Tie your camel and then put your trust in Allah.”

What follows are the supplications themselves: the Arabic, a transliteration, the meaning, and the source.

1. For worry and grief

Anas reported that the Prophet ﷺ used to say:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ، وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ

Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika mina’l-hammi wa’l-ḥazan, wa’l-ʿajzi wa’l-kasal, wa’l-jubni wa’l-bukhl, wa ḍalaʿi’d-dayn, wa ghalabati’r-rijāl

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief, from weakness and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, and from being overcome by debt and overpowered by men.”

2. In times of distress

Ibn ʿAbbās reported that the Prophet ﷺ used to say this during times of distress:

لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ الْعَظِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَرَبُّ الْأَرْضِ وَرَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ

Lā ilāha illa’llāhu’l-ʿAẓīmu’l-Ḥalīm. Lā ilāha illa’llāhu Rabbu’l-ʿArshi’l-ʿAẓīm. Lā ilāha illa’llāhu Rabbu’s-samāwāti wa Rabbu’l-arḍi wa Rabbu’l-ʿArshi’l-Karīm.

“There is no god but Allah, the Most Great, the Forbearing. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the heavens, the Lord of the earth, and the Lord of the Noble Throne.”

3. The du’ā of Yūnus

Called out, in the Qur’an’s words, “within the darknesses”:

لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

Lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu mina’ẓ-ẓālimīn

“There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.”

And the āyah that follows it:

So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.

4. When people make you afraid

The words of believers who were told that people had gathered against them, and who were only increased in faith by it:

حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ

Ḥasbuna’llāhu wa niʿma’l-wakīl

“Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.”

5. When you fear losing what you have

For the anxiety that comes from having something good and fearing it will not last:

اللهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ زَوَالِ نِعْمَتِكَ، وَتَحَوُّلِ عَافِيَتِكَ، وَفُجَاءَةِ نِقْمَتِكَ، وَجَمِيعِ سَخَطِكَ

Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika min zawāli niʿmatik, wa taḥawwuli ʿāfiyatik, wa fujāʾati niqmatik, wa jamīʿi sakhaṭik

“O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the removal of Your favor, the change of Your well-being, the suddenness of Your calamity, and all of Your wrath.”

A verse to come back to

إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

Indeed, with hardship will be ease.

Pick one of these and learn it by heart this week, rather than saving all five for a bad night. A du’ā you already know is one you can reach for when reading is the last thing you can do.

A note on sources: the Arabic of each hadith is as HadeethEnc and the collections publish it, and the Qur’an is quoted from the Uthmani text with the Saheeh International translation. The transliterations are ours, as an aid to reading, and are no substitute for the Arabic.