Sleep
Dua Before Sleeping
بِاسْمِكَ اللَّهُمَّ أَمُوتُ وَأَحْيَا
Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya
In Your name, O Allah, I die and I live.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6324 · Sahih
Where this dua comes from
Narrated by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, who described the Prophet ﷺ placing his hand under his cheek and saying this line before sleep. The wording draws a direct parallel between sleep and death — a comparison the Quran itself makes (39:42), describing sleep as a state in which a soul is taken and then, for the living, returned at waking. That framing is also why the companion dua for waking up ("Praise be to Allah who gave us life after having caused us to die, and to Him is the return") exists as its natural pair: the two together treat each night's sleep as a small rehearsal of death and resurrection, said briefly and without elaboration rather than as a long nightly ritual.
When to recite
Lying down to sleep, hands placed together under the cheek.