Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 703

Jabir said: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to teach us the prayer for seeking guidance (istikharah) in matters just as he taught us a surah of the Qur’an. He said: “When one of you intends to undertake a matter, let him pray two rak‘ahs and then say: ‘O Allah, I seek the best choice from You by Your knowledge, and I seek ability from You by Your power, and I ask You from Your immense bounty. You have power, and I have none; You know, and I do not know; You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affair—or, he said, in its immediate and later course—then decree it for me. And if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood, and its outcome—or, he said, its immediate and later course—then turn it away from me and turn me away from it. Decree good for me wherever it may be, then make me content with it.’ And he should name his need.”