Prayer Before Sleeping and After Waking Up

“Whoever at the time of going to bed says three times, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Who is High, thus, He is Dominant. All praise belongs to Allah, Who is hidden, thus, He knows. All praise belongs to Allah, Who owns, thus. He has measured (all things), all praise belongs to Allah, Who gives life to the dead, and causes the living to die, and He has power over all things,’ he will come out of sins just like the day he was born from his mother.’”

“When any of you is about to go to your bed you should say, ‘O Lord, I have placed my soul in Your custody, keep it secure in a place that You like, and forgive, and if You return it to my body, return it with belief, and with knowledge of the rights of Your friends until it will die upon such belief.’”

“At bedtime he (abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.)) would say, ‘I believe in Allah and reject the devil. O Lord, protect me in my sleep and when I am awake.’”

“Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said, ‘Should I tell you about what the Messenger of Allah would say when going to his bed?’ I said, ‘Yes, please do so.’ The Imam said, ‘He would read verse 255 of Chapter two and say, “(I begin) in the name of Allah, I believe in Allah, and reject the devil. O Lord, protect me in my sleep and when I am awake.’”

“Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) would say, ‘O Lord, I seek protection with You against wet dreams and bad dreams and from Satan playing with me during my sleep or when awake.’”

“ Tasbih of Fatimah al-Zahra’ (a.s.) should be said when you are about to go to your bed. It is saying, ‘Allah is greater than can be described, thirty-four times, all praise belongs to Allah, thirty-three times and Allah is free of defects,’ thirty-three times. Recite verse 255 of Chapter two, Chapters 113, 114, ten verses from the beginning of Chapter 37 and ten verses from the end of Chapter 37.’”

Imam said, ‘Tell him to take rosary beads ( sabhah ) and say, ‘Allah is greater than can be described, thirty-four times, all praise belongs to Allah, thirty-three times, Allah is free of defects, thirty-three times,’ then say, “No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, alone Who has no partner, to Him belongs the Kingdom, all praise belongs to Him, He gives life, causes death, causes death and gives life, in His hand is all good, for Him is the changing of the night and the day and He has power over all things, ten times.’”

“One night the son of Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) came to him and said, ‘Father I want to go to sleep.’ He said son, say, ‘1 testify that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, that Muhammad (a.s.) is the servant and messenger of Allah. I seek protection with the greatness of Allah. I seek protection with majesty of Allah, I seek protection with the power of Allah, I seek protection with the glory of Allah, I seek protection with the authority of Allah; He has power over all things. I seek protection with the immunity of Allah, I seek protection with the forgiveness of Allah, I seek protection with the mercy of Allah, against the evil of poisonous reptiles and insects, against the evil of small and large animals during the day or night, against the evil of sinful Jinn and human beings, against the evil of the sinful Arab and non-Arab people, against the evil of lightning and cold. O Lord, grant al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad, Your servant and messenger.’ Mu’awiyah has said that each time the name of the Holy Prophet was mentioned, the boy kept saying “The noble and blessed,” and asked the Imam, ‘Can I say, “The noble and blessed?”’ The Imam said, ‘Yes, son, “The noble and blessed.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) said to me, ‘If you can, do not go to sleep without seeking protection with eleven letters.’ I then asked, ‘What are they?’ The Imam told me to say, ‘I seek protection with the majesty of Allah, I seek protection with the power of Allah, I seek protection with the glory of Allah, I seek protection with the authority of Allah, I seek protection with the beauty of Allah, I seek protection with the defense of Allah, I seek protection with the prevention of Allah, I seek protection with the community of Allah, I seek protection with the possession of Allah, I seek protection with the face of Allah, I seek protection with the Messenger of Allah against the evil of whatever He has created, spread and settled. ’ The Imam said, ‘You may seek protection with these letters whenever you like.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Whenever you are about to sleep in your bed say, “In the name of Allah, I have placed my right side (for Allah) according to the Millah (tradition and culture) of Ibrahim, submitted to the will of Allah and I am not of the pagans.’”

“When one of you wakes up during the night and says, ‘Allah is free of defects, the Lord of the prophets, the Holy Being of the Messengers and the Lord of the suppressed people (‘ A’immah from the family of the Holy Prophet) all praise belongs to Allah, Who gives life to the dead and He has power over all things,’ Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will say, “My servant has spoken the truth and has thanked Me.’”

“During the night if you wake up say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who has returned my spirit to me so I can thank Him and worship Him.’ When you hear the voice of a rooster then say, ‘O the Faultless, the Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit, Your mercy comes before Your anger and no one deserves to be worshipped except You alone. 1 have committed evil deeds and has wronged myself, please forgive me. No one can forgive sins except You.’ When you stand up look to the horizons and say, ‘O Lord, the dark night is not hidden from You nor is the skies with constellations or the well-stretched earth, or the darknesses one over the other, or the wavy seas or the traveler at night of Your creatures; You know the secret glances of the eyes and what the chests hide. The stars have disappeared, the eyes have gone to sleep and You are the Living the Guardian, slumber cannot overtake You nor sleep. My Lord is free of defects, the Lord of the worlds, and the Holy Being of the messengers; all praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’”

“When Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) toward the end of night was to wake up he would raise his voice so people of the house could hear him, saying, ‘O Lord, support me against the horror of the Day of Judgment, expand for me the congestion of the grave, grant me the best of what is before death and grant me what is best thereafter.’”

“When you are about to sleep say, ‘O Lord, if You holdback my soul from returning to my body, have mercy on it and if You will allow it to return, please protect it. ’”

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘Whoever recites Chapter 112 of the Holy Quran one hundred times at the time of going to sleep his deeds of the past fifty years will be forgiven.’ Yahya has said that I asked Sama’a about it and he said that abu Basir narrated to him saying, ‘I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying the same thing and said to me, “O abu Muhammad, if you try it you will find it firmly established.’””

“When the Messenger of Allah were about to go to his bed he would say, ‘O Lord, in Your name I live and in Your name I will die,’ and when he would wake up he would say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Who has given me life after causing me to die and before Him is the resurrection.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Whoever recites verse 255 of Chapter two before going to sleep three times, verses 18,19 of Chapter three, verse 54 of Chapter 7 and verses 53-54 of Chapter 41 two devils will be assigned to protect him against the rebellious devils whether they like or dislike it, and with them from Allah there will be thirty angels who praise Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, glorify Him, testify that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, say that Allah is greater than can be described, plead before Allah for forgiveness for him until that servant (of Allah) wakes up and he will receive all the reward for it (whatever the angels have said).”’

“Whoever recites verse 110 of Chapter 18 he will wake up at the hour he wants to wake up.”

“The Holy Prophet has said, ‘Whoever likes to wake up at night, at the time of going to sleep should say, “(In the name of Allah) O Lord, do not allow me to ignore Your anger, do not allow me to forget speaking of You, do not make me of the careless ones, so I will wake up at such and such hour,” Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will assign an angel to wake him up at that time.’”