“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that does not benefit, from a heart that does not fear, from a soul that is never satisfied, and from a supplication that is not answered.”

Zayd ibn Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I only say to you what the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say. He used to say: "Allāhumma inni a‘ūdhu bika min al-‘ajzi wal-kasal, wal-jubni wal-bukhl, wal-harami wa ‘adhāb al-qabr. Allāhumma āti nafsi taqwāha, wa zakkiha anta khayru man zakkāha, anta waliyyuha wa mawlāha. Allāhumma inni a‘ūdhu bika min ‘ilmin la yanfa‘, wa min qalbin la yakhsha‘, wa min nafsin la tashba‘, wa min da‘watin la yustajābu laha" (O Allah, I seek refuge with You from inability, indolence, cowardice, miserliness, decrepitude, and torment of the grave. O Allah, grant me the sense of piety and purify my soul as You are the Best to purify it. You are its Protector and its Guardian. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from knowledge that is not beneficial, from a heart that does not fear, from a soul that is not satisfied, and from a supplication that is not answered).

Narrated by Zayd ibn Arqam and recorded by Muslim, who prefaces it with the narrator’s own caution: “I only say to you what the Messenger of Allah used to say.” The four things named have one thing in common — each is a good thing that has stopped working: knowledge that does not change anything, a heart that does not soften, an appetite with no floor, a prayer that goes nowhere.