Waking

One more day

Every night Allah takes the soul of the sleeping man. Every morning He sends it back to the ones whose term is not finished.

ٱللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى ٱلْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَٱلَّتِى لَمْ تَمُتْ فِى مَنَامِهَا ۖ فَيُمْسِكُ ٱلَّتِى قَضَىٰ عَلَيْهَا ٱلْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ ٱلْأُخْرَىٰٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ مُّسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَءَايَٰتٍۢ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

Allahu yatawaffal-anfusa hina mawtiha wallati lam tamut fi manamiha, fa-yumsikul-lati qada 'alayhal-mawta wa yursilul-ukhra ila ajalin musamma. Inna fi dhalika la-ayatin li-qawmin yatafakkarun

Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and the souls that have not died, in their sleep. He keeps those for whom He has decreed death and sends the others back until a term already set. In that are signs for a people who reflect. (Surah Az-Zumar 39:42)

Quran 39:42

The man who wakes has been handed a day he did not earn. When the Prophet ﷺ woke, he praised the One who gave it back.

The verse closes on a people who reflect, yatafakkarun. The word is tafakkur, deep reflection. When he woke in the night, he looked at the sky and recited verses that praise the same people. Sleep is a sign. Waking is a sign. The sky over the house is a sign. The first minutes of the day are for reading them.

What follows is the adab of waking, its right conduct, as it was reported, in the order a morning runs. The first words. The face and the sky. The three knots. Then the work, early, while the blessing is on it.

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The first words

Praise the One who gave it back

Hudhayfah reported that when the Prophet ﷺ woke, he said:

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَحْيَانَا بَعْدَ مَا أَمَاتَنَا وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ

Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhin-nushur

All praise is for Allah, who gave us life after He had caused us to die, and to Him is the rising.

An-nushur is the rising, the word for the Day the dead are raised. Every morning is a small rehearsal of it.

Sahih al-Bukhari 6312

Name three gifts

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ taught a man who wakes to say:

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي عَافَانِي فِي جَسَدِي وَرَدَّ عَلَىَّ رُوحِي وَأَذِنَ لِي بِذِكْرِهِ

Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi 'afani fi jasadi, wa radda 'alayya ruhi, wa adhina li bi-dhikrih

All praise is for Allah, who gave my body health, returned my soul to me, and allowed me to remember Him.

A body that works. A soul returned. Permission to remember Him. Three gifts, named before the day asks anything of you.

Jami at-Tirmidhi 3401 · Sahih (Darussalam)

If you wake in the night, speak

'Ubadah ibn as-Samit reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: whoever wakes in the night and says these words, then says O Allah, forgive me, or makes any supplication, is answered. And if he makes wudu (the washing before prayer) and prays, his prayer is accepted.

لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ، وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ‏.‏ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ، وَلاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ، وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، وَلاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللَّهِ‏.‏ اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي

La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulk, wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir. Al-hamdu lillah, wa subhanallah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. Allahumma ighfir li

There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He has power over all things. All praise is for Allah, glory be to Allah, there is no god but Allah, Allah is the Greatest, and there is no power and no strength except through Allah. O Allah, forgive me.

In the last third of the night, our Lord descends to the nearest heaven and asks who is calling on Him, that He may answer. I wrote about that hour in The Night Belongs to the Believer.

Sahih al-Bukhari 1154 · Sahih al-Bukhari 1145

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The face and the sky

Wipe the sleep from your face

Ibn 'Abbas spent a night in the house of his aunt Maymunah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ. He watched the Prophet ﷺ wake in the night, sit up, and wipe the sleep from his face with his hand.

Sahih al-Bukhari 183

Look up, and recite

Then he looked at the sky and recited the closing verses of Aal Imran (the Family of Imran), the passage that runs from verse 190 to the end of the surah. These are its first two verses.

إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ لَءَايَٰتٍۢ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ

Inna fi khalqis-samawati wal-ardi wakhtilafil-layli wan-nahari la-ayatin li-ulil-albab

In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the turning of night and day, are signs for people of understanding. (Surah Aal Imran 3:190)

ٱلَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَٰطِلًۭا سُبْحَٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ

Alladhina yadhkurunallaha qiyaman wa qu'udan wa 'ala junubihim wa yatafakkaruna fi khalqis-samawati wal-ard. Rabbana ma khalaqta hadha batilan, subhanaka fa-qina 'adhaban-nar

Those who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord, You did not create this without purpose. Glory be to You. Protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (Surah Aal Imran 3:191)

They reflect, yatafakkarun. The same word that closes the verse on sleep. He woke, looked up, and recited the praise of those who reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. A waking mind is for that.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4569 · Sahih al-Bukhari 183 · Quran 3:190-200

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The three knots

Untie the three knots

The Prophet ﷺ said that Shaytan (Satan) ties three knots at the back of the head of a man who sleeps. When he wakes and remembers Allah, one knot comes loose. When he makes wudu, the second comes loose. When he prays, the third comes loose, and he rises with energy and a good spirit. If he does not, he rises foul in spirit and lazy.

The words above are remembrance of Allah. The next two knots are water and the prayer.

Sahih al-Bukhari 1142

Wash your hands first

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: when one of you wakes from his sleep, he should not put his hand into the vessel until he has washed it three times, because he does not know where his hand spent the night.

Sahih Muslim 278a · Sahih al-Bukhari 162

Clean your mouth

Hudhayfah reported that when the Prophet ﷺ rose in the night, he cleaned his mouth with the siwak, the stick used to clean the teeth.

Sahih al-Bukhari 245

Clear your nose in wudu

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: when one of you wakes from his sleep and makes wudu, let him draw water into his nose and blow it out three times, because Shaytan spends the night in the upper part of his nose.

Then the third knot. How to pray Fajr, the dawn prayer, step by step, is in Pray.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3295 · Sahih Muslim 238

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The early hours

Move early

Sakhr al-Ghamidi reported that the Prophet ﷺ prayed for the early hours of his nation. When he sent out a force, he sent it at the start of the day. Sakhr was a merchant. He sent his trade out at the start of the day, and he prospered and his wealth grew.

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لأُمَّتِي فِي بُكُورِهَا

Allahumma barik li-ummati fi bukuriha

O Allah, bless my nation in its early mornings.

The blessing sits on the first hours. Give them to the work that matters most.

Sunan Abi Dawud 2606 · Sahih (Al-Albani) · Jami at-Tirmidhi 1212 · Hasan (Darussalam)

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Sources. Az-Zumar 39:42 and Aal Imran 3:190 to 191: the Arabic is the Uthmani text, checked against api.alquran.cloud; the English is a plain rendering, checked against Sahih International. Sahih al-Bukhari 162, 183, 245, 1142, 1145, 1154, 3295, 4569 and 6312, and Sahih Muslim 238 and 278a; both collections carry the name Sahih, authentic. Jami at-Tirmidhi 3401, graded sahih by Darussalam, which at-Tirmidhi himself called hasan. Jami at-Tirmidhi 1212, graded hasan by Darussalam and by at-Tirmidhi. Sunan Abi Dawud 2606, graded sahih by al-Albani. Each grade as sunnah.com shows it. The English of each hadith is a plain rendering of its Arabic. Every hadith checked against sunnah.com on October 27, 2026.