You woke up. You prayed. The house is quiet. You are sitting on your prayer mat in the last third of the night, and Allah descends to the lowest heaven asking: “Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?” (Bukhari 1145)
This is that moment. What do you say?
This post is the most complete collection of duas for Tahajjud we know how to write. Every category of human need is here. Find the one that is yours tonight.
Before You Begin: The Waking Dua
Before he even started praying, the Prophet ﷺ would say this upon waking:
“Allahumma lakal-hamd. Anta qaiyyimus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Walakal-hamd, Laka mulkus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Walakal-hamd, anta nurus-samawati wal-ard. Wa lakal-hamd, anta-l-haq wa wa’duka-lhaq, wa liqa’uka Haq, wa qauluka Haq, wal-jannatu Han wan-naru Haq wannabiyuna Haq. Wa Muhammadun, sallal-lahu’alaihi wasallam, Haq, was-sa’atu Haq. Allahumma aslamtu Laka wabika amantu, wa ‘Alaika tawakkaltu, wa ilaika anabtu wa bika khasamtu, wa ilaika hakamtu faghfir li ma qaddamtu wama akh-khartu wama as-rartu wama’a lantu, anta-l-muqaddim wa anta-l-mu akh-khir, la ilaha illa anta (or la ilaha ghairuka).
Translation: “O Allah! All the praises are for you, You are the Holder of the Heavens and the Earth, And whatever is in them. All the praises are for You; You have the possession of the Heavens and the Earth And whatever is in them. All the praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth And all the praises are for You; You are the King of the Heavens and the Earth; And all the praises are for You; You are the Truth and Your Promise is the truth, And to meet You is true, Your Word is the truth And Paradise is true And Hell is true And all the Prophets (Peace be upon them) are true; And Muhammad is true, And the Day of Resurrection is true. O Allah ! I surrender (my will) to You; I believe in You and depend on You. And repent to You, And with Your help I argue (with my opponents, the non-believers) And I take You as a judge (to judge between us). Please forgive me my previous And future sins; And whatever I concealed or revealed And You are the One who make (some people) forward And (some) backward. There is none to be worshipped but you.”*
The Most Powerful Moment: Sujood
Inside the prayer, the place where your dua carries the most weight is sujood.
“The nearest a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating himself, so make supplication (in this state).”
Your face is on the ground before the One who created the earth your face is touching. This is not a metaphor. Ask for everything here. Say the things you have not been able to say aloud. Name the fear. Name the need. Name the person. There is nothing too small and nothing too large.
After the Prayer: The Comprehensive Quranic Dua
After your salah, this is the dua the Prophet ﷺ made most often:
“Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.”
In Arabic: Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-akhirati hasanatan wa qina adhab an-nar.
Say this at the start and end of your personal dua session. It covers everything you might forget to ask for.
Personal Duas: Find the One That Is Yours
The duas below are written in plain language. They are not scripts. They are starting points. Take them, change the words, add the names, and make them yours.
For Marriage: When You Are Still Waiting
If you are single and longing to be married, the last third of the night was made for this conversation.
“O Allah, You know what my heart has been carrying. You know how long I have been waiting and how many times I have almost lost hope. I ask You for a spouse who is good for my deen, my heart, and my future. Someone who will walk this path with me toward You. O Allah, if I have been chasing the wrong things or closed myself off to Your plan, forgive me and open my heart. You are Al-Fattah, the Opener. Open this door for me at the time that is best, in the way that is best. I trust You. I place this in Your hands.”
For Marriage: When Your Marriage Is Struggling
For the spouse sitting in the dark, unsure if things can be repaired.
“O Allah, You placed love and mercy between us when we began. I ask You to restore what has been lost. Soften our hearts toward each other. Remove the bitterness, the distance, the words that have hardened between us. Give us the courage to try again and the wisdom to do it differently. If this marriage is good for us, make it work. Make us a source of peace and sakeena for each other. O Allah, if there are wrongs I need to own, make me see them. And if there is healing that is possible, send it.”
For a Job: When You Are Looking or Stuck
“O Allah, I need provision and I need it through halal means. You are Ar-Razzaq, the Provider, and nothing is beyond Your reach. Open a door for me. If there is something blocking the rizq You have written for me, remove it. Guide me to the right opportunity, give me the ability to perform in it, and bless it. O Allah, do not let me be humiliated by my need. Provide for me from places I cannot even imagine.”
For Debt: When the Weight of It Will Not Leave You
“O Allah, I am burdened. This debt presses on me when I wake and when I sleep. You are the One who can make it easy to pay and remove the anxiety that surrounds it. O Allah, I ask You for the means to pay what I owe, for barakah in what comes into my hands, and for freedom from financial worry. You gave your Prophet ﷺ a dua for debt. Grant me the blessing of that dua’s answer: O Allah, suffice me with what is halal against what is haram, and make me free of need of all besides You.”
The Prophet’s dua for debt: “Allahumma akfini bihalalika an haramika, wa aghnini bifadlika amman siwak.” (Tirmidhi 3563)
For Anxiety and Inner Pain
For the one who wakes up already exhausted, already heavy.
“O Allah, You know this weight I carry that I cannot explain to anyone else. The anxiety that does not have a clear cause, the fear that follows me, the pain that does not have a simple name. I am not okay and I am coming to You because You are the only one who fully knows what this is. O Allah, You said ‘Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.’ Let my heart find that rest tonight. Replace this heaviness with something light. I do not need to understand it. I just need You to be near.”
For Someone in the Middle of a Trial
When the test is ongoing and you do not know how much longer it will last.
“O Allah, I know that this trial is not a punishment. I know that You test those You love. But I am tired and I am asking You honestly: give me the strength to keep going. Do not let this break me in a way that does not lead back to You. Give me patience that is not just endurance but genuine acceptance of Your plan. And O Allah, if You have decided to lift this trial, lift it. If there is a lesson I still need to learn, teach me quickly. I put my trust in You.”
For Grief: When You Have Lost a Parent
“O Allah, the gap they left behind is real and I am still learning to live in it. I ask You to shower Your mercy on them. Make their grave wide and full of light. Raise their rank in Jannah. Forgive whatever they left behind unfinished between them and You. Let them be reunited with the believers they loved. O Allah, do not let their good deeds go unrewarded. And let whatever good I do in this life reach them as a charity for their sake. Let me see them again, in a place where there is no more grief.”
For Grief: When You Have Lost a Spouse, Child, or Loved One
“O Allah, You gave them to me as a gift and You have taken them back. You are Al-Malik. What You give is Yours and what You take was always Yours. I submit to that, even when my heart aches. Forgive them. Elevate them. Give them the highest company in Jannah. And O Allah, help me carry this loss without letting it harden my heart. Let this grief be something that draws me closer to You and not further away.”
For Someone You Love Who Has Drifted
For the parent watching a child leave the deen. For the friend who has stopped praying. For the sibling you are quietly terrified about.
“O Allah, You are Al-Hadi, the One who guides. I cannot guide [name]. Only You can open their heart. So I am asking You to do what only You can do. Send them something, a moment, a realization, a mercy they did not expect, that turns them back toward You. O Allah, do not let them be lost. They are someone I love and I am leaving them in Your hands tonight because I have no power and You have all of it. Guide them.”
For Wealth: Asking for Barakah and Abundance
“O Allah, bless what You have given me. Give it barakah so that it goes further than its number suggests. I ask You for rizq that is halal, that is abundant, and that I can use to worship You and serve others. O Allah, do not make me someone who hoards or who forgets You when things are easy. Give me wealth and give me the wisdom to use it the right way. Make me among those who are grateful, not among those who are given and then distracted.”
For Your Business
“O Allah, I built this with the intention of providing for myself, my family, and being able to give. Bless the work of my hands. Send me good clients, good opportunities, and good people to work with. Protect my business from envy and from harm. O Allah, if there is anything in how I operate that is not pleasing to You, show it to me so I can fix it. And send barakah into every transaction, every contract, and every day of work.”
For Breaking Away from Addiction
For the one who has tried to stop and has not been able to. For the one who is ashamed to even say this out loud.
“O Allah, I am trapped in something and I cannot get out on my own. You know what it is. You know how long it has been. You know how many times I have promised myself I would stop and have not been able to. I am not asking You from a place of having it together. I am asking You from the lowest point I know. Please pull me out. Remove this from me. Replace the pull of this thing with something better. I know You can free me from this. I am asking You to do it. Give me a way out.”
For the Ummah
When the news is unbearable and you feel helpless.
“O Allah, the ummah is in pain. I see the suffering of Muslims in [place, situation] and I feel how little I can do. But I know You can do everything. O Allah, protect the vulnerable. Have mercy on those who are dying and on those who have to keep living with the grief. Raise leaders among us who fear You. Unite our hearts when they have been pulled apart. Forgive the ummah for what has weakened it and restore what has been lost. O Allah, we are Your servants. Do not abandon us.”
For Your Children
For the parent who lies awake worrying about who their children will become.
“O Allah, I do not know what the future holds for them and that terrifies me sometimes. I ask You to protect them, in every way they need protecting. Guard their deen and their character. Put good people in their lives and remove the harmful ones. O Allah, make them among those who pray. Make salah something their hearts love, not something I have to force. Give them a future I cannot even imagine yet, and let it be a future that is pleasing to You. O Allah, make me the parent they need me to be.”
For a Child: When You Are Waiting and Struggling
For the couple who has been trying, who has prayed and hoped and watched others receive what they are asking for. This is one of the oldest duas in the Quran.
“O Allah, You gave Zakariyya a son when he was old and his wife was barren. You gave Ibrahim a child when all hope seemed closed. You are the One who opens the womb and the One who knows every soul before it is born. O Allah, I am asking You for a child. Not because I have the right to it, but because I know You can give it. I know You hear this dua at this hour. O Allah, if there is a child written for me, send them to me. Heal whatever needs to be healed in my body or my spouse’s body. Remove every barrier we cannot see. And if there is wisdom in the waiting that I do not yet understand, give me patience that does not break my heart. I trust You with this.”
The dua of Zakariyya alayhis salam:
“And ˹remember˺ when Zachariah cried out to his Lord, ‘My Lord! Do not leave me childless, though You are the Best of Successors.’”
And Ibrahim’s (AS) supplication:
“My Lord! Surely my bones have become brittle, and grey hair has spread across my head, but I have never been disappointed in my prayer to You, my Lord! And I am concerned about ˹the faith of˺ my relatives after me, since my wife is barren. So grant me, by Your grace, an heir…”
Say it. Say it again. He was answered.
For Your Future Generations Until the End of Days
One of the duas of Ibrahim alayhis salam was not just for his son, but for his descendants until the end of time. You can make the same kind of dua.
“O Allah, I ask You not only for my children but for every generation that comes after me until the Day of Judgment. Let the belief travel through my bloodline. Let something of my dua and my worship reach people who have not been born yet. O Allah, make my descendants among those who establish salah and give zakat and stand before You on the Last Day with light on their faces. Let whatever good I build now be a sadaqa jariya for generations I will never meet.”
The dua of Ibrahim alayhis salam:
“My Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and [many] from my descendants. Our Lord, and accept my supplication.”
For Closeness to Allah
For the one who feels far. For the one who goes through the motions but does not feel the connection.
“O Allah, I want to know You. Not just know about You, but actually feel close to You the way the prophets and the awliya felt close to You. I do not want to be someone who performs worship without a heart in it. Take away the fog between me and You. Open my heart to Your presence. Make salah something I run to instead of something I drag myself through. O Allah, You are Al-Qarib, the Near. Let me feel that nearness. Let me be someone whose love for You grows every year until I meet You.”
For Jannah
Ask for it by name. Ask for specifics.
“O Allah, I want Jannah. Not just in the abstract, but truly. I want to see Your face. I want to meet the Prophet ﷺ. I want to be in the company of Ibrahim and Maryam and Khadijah and Aisha and all those who loved You completely. I want my family with me. I want to enter without a painful accounting. O Allah, I ask You for Jannatul Firdaws, the highest level, and I ask You to enter me by Your mercy. Do not let the Fire touch me or anyone I love.”
For Protection from Envy and Harm
“O Allah, I ask You to protect me, my household, my wealth, my children, and everything You have blessed me with from the evil eye, from envy, and from any harm that comes through people or through means I cannot see. You are the best Protector. Surround us with Your protection. And O Allah, if I have caused harm or taken something that was not mine, forgive me and make it right.”
For a Sick Loved One
“O Allah, You are Ash-Shafi, the Healer. There is no healing except from You. I ask You to heal [name] completely, not a partial healing but a full recovery. Relieve their pain. Give them patience through what they are going through. If their time is near, make it easy for them and make their end a beautiful return to You. O Allah, be with them in this. Do not let them feel alone in the darkness of illness.”
For Acceptance: When Something Cannot Be Changed
“O Allah, I have asked and asked for this to be different and it has not changed. I am asking You now not to change it but to help me accept it. Give me the certainty that Your plan is better than the plan I had for myself. Remove the bitterness of what did not happen and replace it with gratitude for what has. O Allah, make my heart peaceful with Your decree. That is one of the hardest things I could ever ask for. And only You can give it.”
For a Good Death and a Good Ending
“O Allah, I do not know when I will die or how. But I ask You: let me die with faith on my tongue and light in my heart. Let my last words be the shahada. Let my last state be one of tawbah and closeness to You. Do not let me be among those who are surprised by death without preparation. And O Allah, after I die, do not let me be forgotten by those who make dua. Keep my record of good deeds flowing through what I left behind.”
A Word Before You Begin
You do not have to get through all of these in one night. Read the list. Find the category that is yours tonight. Sit with it. Speak honestly.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Supplication is itself the worship.”
The asking is worship. The reaching toward Allah at 3am when everything is quiet and your need is real, that is one of the most valuable things a person can do. Allah is already listening before you begin.
Read accounts of real people whose dua in the last third of the night changed the direction of their lives. Pick up The Power of Tahajjud.