The Book of Seeking Refuge with Allah

Mahmud ibn Ghaylan reported to us; he said: Abu Dawud narrated to us; he said: Shuʿbah narrated to us, from Husayn, who said: I heard Hilal ibn Yasaf, from Farwah ibn Nawfal, who said: I said to ʿAishah, ‘Tell me a supplication that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to make.’ She said: ‘He used to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done and from the evil of what I have not done.”’

ʿAmr ibn Mansur narrated to us; he said: al-Fadl ibn Dukayn narrated to us, from ʿUbadah ibn Muslim, who said: Jubayr ibn Abi Sulayman ibn Jubayr ibn Mutʿim told me that Ibn ʿUmar said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in Your might from being suddenly struck from beneath me.’ Jubayr said: ‘That is the earth swallowing someone.’ ʿUbadah said: ‘I do not know whether this was the Prophet’s statement or Jubayr’s.’

Muhammad ibn al-Khalil reported to us; he said: Marwan—namely, Ibn Muʿawiyah—narrated to us, from ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, from ʿUbadah ibn Muslim al-Fazari, from Jubayr ibn Abi Sulayman, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say, ‘O Allah…’ Then he mentioned the supplication and said at its end: ‘I seek refuge in You from being suddenly struck from beneath me’—meaning, swallowed by the earth.

Mahmud ibn Ghaylan reported to us; he said: al-Fadl ibn Musa narrated to us, from ʿAbdullah ibn Saʿid, from Sayfi, the client of Abu Ayyub, from Abu al-Yasr, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from falling, being crushed, drowning, and fire. I seek refuge in You from Satan overwhelming me at the time of death. I seek refuge in You from dying while turning my back in Your cause, and I seek refuge in You from dying from a venomous bite.’

Yunus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿla reported to us; he said: Anas ibn ʿIyad informed me, from ʿAbdullah ibn Saʿid, from Sayfi, from Abu al-Yasr, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to supplicate, saying: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from decrepit old age, falling, being crushed, distress, fire, and drowning. I seek refuge in You from Satan overwhelming me at the time of death, and from being killed while turning my back in Your cause. I seek refuge in You from dying from a venomous bite.’

Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna reported to us; he said: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; he said: ʿAbdullah ibn Saʿid narrated to us; he said: Sayfi, the client of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, told me from Abu al-Aswad al-Sulami—this is how he stated it—that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from being crushed, from falling, from drowning and fire. I seek refuge in You from Satan overwhelming me at the time of death, from dying while turning my back in Your cause, and from dying from a venomous bite.’

Ibrahim ibn Yaʿqub reported to us; he said: al-ʿAlaʾ ibn Hilal narrated to me; he said: ʿUbaydullah narrated to us, from Zayd, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from al-Qasim ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Masruq ibn al-Ajdaʿ, from ʿAishah, who said: One night I looked for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in my bed, but did not find him. I reached my hand across the bed, and it fell upon the soles of his feet. He was prostrating and saying: ‘I seek refuge through Your pardon from Your punishment; I seek refuge through Your pleasure from Your displeasure; and I seek refuge in You from You.’

Ibrahim ibn Yaʿqub informed me; he said: Zayd ibn al-Hubab narrated to us that Muʿawiyah ibn Salih related to him. And Azhar ibn Saʿid—known as al-Harazi, a Syrian transmitter whose reports are rare—narrated to me, from ʿAsim ibn Humayd, who said: I asked ʿAishah, ‘What did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, begin his night prayer with?’ She said: ‘You have asked me something no one else has asked me. He used to say “Allahu akbar” ten times, “Subhan Allah” ten times, and “Astaghfirullah” ten times, then say: “O Allah, forgive me, guide me, provide for me, and grant me well-being.” He also used to seek refuge from the distress of the standing on the Day of Resurrection.’

Muhammad ibn Adam reported to us, from Abu Khalid, from Muhammad ibn ʿAjlan, from Saʿid, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that brings no benefit, from a heart that is not humble, from a soul that is never satisfied, and from a supplication that is not heard.’ Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman said: ‘Saʿid did not hear it from Abu Hurayrah; rather, he heard it from his brother, from Abu Hurayrah.’

ʿUbaydullah ibn Fadalah ibn Ibrahim reported to us; he said: Yahya—meaning Ibn Yahya—informed us; he said: al-Layth ibn Saʿd informed us, from Saʿid ibn Abi Saʿid, from his brother ʿAbbad ibn Abi Saʿid, who heard Abu Hurayrah say: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that brings no benefit, from a heart that is not humble, from a soul that is never satisfied, and from a supplication that is not heard.’

Wasil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿla reported to us, from Ibn Fudayl, from ʿAsim ibn Sulayman, from ʿAbdullah ibn al-Harith, who said: When Zayd ibn Arqam was asked, ‘Tell us what you heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,’ he would say: ‘I will tell you only what the Messenger of Allah related to us and instructed us to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from incapacity, laziness, miserliness, cowardice, old age, and the punishment of the grave. O Allah, grant my soul its God-consciousness and purify it; You are the best to purify it. You are its Guardian and Master. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from a soul that is never satisfied, a heart that is not humble, knowledge that brings no benefit, and a supplication that is not answered.”’

Muhammad ibn Bashshar reported to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us; he said: Sufyan narrated to us, from Mansur, from al-Shaʿbi, from Umm Salamah, that whenever the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, left his home, he would say: ‘In the name of Allah, my Lord. I seek refuge in You from slipping or going astray, from wronging or being wronged, and from acting foolishly or being treated foolishly.’