The 365 · Sunnah · Day 73 · Sleep
Reciting the Short Sleep Duʿāʾ 'Bismika Allāhumma Amūtu wa-Aḥyā'
The hadith
بِاسْمِكَ اللَّهُمَّ أَمُوتُ وَأَحْيَا
The Prophet ﷺ would say when going to bed: 'Bismika Allāhumma amūtu wa-aḥyā (In Your name, O Allah, I die and I live).' When he woke, he would say: 'Al-ḥamdu lillāhi alladhī aḥyānā baʿda mā amātanā wa-ilayhi an-nushūr (Praise be to Allah who gave us life after He caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection).' (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6312, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2711, narrated by Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān.) Cross-ref Q 39:42 on the sleep-as-soul-taken theology.
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ brukade säga vid sömn: 'Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya.' Vid uppvaknandet: 'Al-hamdulillah alladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhi an-nushur.'
The story
Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān ra. preserved this duʿāʾ pair. The Quranic foundation is in Q 39:42: 'Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those who do not die during their sleep. He keeps those for whom He has decreed death and releases the others until an appointed time.' The verse establishes the sleep-as-death theology: at every sleep, Allah takes the soul; some are returned (waking), some are kept (death-during-sleep).
Why it's here
The Prophet ﷺ established the sleep-as-death framework structurally: lying down to sleep is named as a small death; waking from sleep is named as a small resurrection. The duʿāʾ-pair operationalizes this theology. Going to sleep with the bismika duʿāʾ is the believer's final entrustment of his soul to Allah, in case the sleep is the actual death. Waking with the al-ḥamdu lillāh duʿāʾ is the believer's structural acknowledgment that the resurrection has been previewed.
Try it today
1. Memorize the bismika duʿāʾ for sleep. 5 seconds. 2. Recite it as the last words of the day, after the longer adhkār package (Day 71). 3. Memorize the al-ḥamdu lillāh duʿāʾ for waking. 5 seconds. 4. Recite it as the first words of the day, immediately upon waking. 5. The pair structurally brackets each day with the death-and-resurrection theology.
In your day
Most modern Muslims do not bracket their sleep with these duʿāʾs. The cost is 10 seconds total per day. The structural reframing (sleep as death-rehearsal, waking as resurrection-rehearsal) transforms the relationship with sleep itself.
A reflection to carry
The sleep duʿāʾ (Bismika Allāhumma): 'Bismika Allāhumma amūtu wa-aḥyā.' (Bukhārī 6312.) The structural reframe: sleep is small death; waking is small resurrection. The believer's sleep is structurally entrusted to Allah.
Read the longer reflection
Q 39:42 establishes the sleep-as-death theology: 'Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those who do not die during their sleep.' At every sleep, the soul is taken; some are returned (waking), some are kept (death-during-sleep). The bismika duʿāʾ operationalizes this: the believer entrusts his soul to Allah's name as he goes into the small-death of sleep. Cure: as last words before sleep; pair with the morning waking-duʿāʾ (al-ḥamdu lillāhi alladhī aḥyānā...) as the bracket. Modern pre-sleep phone-checking displaces this; the Sunnah is structurally non-negotiable for the protection-mechanism.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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