Illness & Hardship
Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji'un — Dua for Patience in Calamity
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ، اللَّهُمَّ أْجُرْنِي فِي مُصِيبَتِي، وَأَخْلِفْ لِي خَيْرًا مِنْهَا
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. Allahumma ajurni fi musibati, wa akhlif lee khayran minha
Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. O Allah, reward me in my calamity and give me something better than it in exchange.
The first response to loss: return to Allah, then ask that the calamity be repaid and replaced with better. Umm Salamah reported the Prophet's ﷺ instruction to say it.
General
The prayer of Ayyub
۞ وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ
wa-ayyūba idh nādā rabbahu annī massaniya l-ḍuru wa-anta arḥamu l-rāḥimīna
And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful
Ayyub's prayer after years of losing health, wealth, and family — the Quran's shortest lesson in asking while still trusting.
General
The prayer of Yunus
وَذَا ٱلنُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَٰضِبًۭا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَٰتِ أَن لَّآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبْحَٰنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
wadhā l-nūni idh dhahaba mughāḍiban faẓanna an lan naqdira ʿalayhi fanādā fī l-ẓulumāti an lā ilāha illā anta sub'ḥānaka innī kuntu mina l-ẓālimīna
And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers
Called from inside the whale: a confession joined to the Quran's own warning that no one despairs of Allah's relief except those who have lost the path.
Eating & Drinking
Patience and steadfastness
وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا۟ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
walammā barazū lijālūta wajunūdihi qālū rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wathabbit aqdāmanā wa-unṣur'nā ʿalā l-qawmi l-kāfirīna
And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people
The prayer of believers facing a stronger force — for patience under strike and feet that do not retreat.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness and steadfastness
وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَا ٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِىٓ أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
wamā kāna qawlahum illā an qālū rabbanā igh'fir lanā dhunūbanā wa-is'rāfanā fī amrinā wathabbit aqdāmanā wa-unṣur'nā ʿalā l-qawmi l-kāfirīna
And their words were not but that they said, "Our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affairs and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people
A prayer with two requests only: forgiveness, and the strength to hold steady against hardship.
Illness & Hardship
Allahumma Rabban-nas, Adh-hibil Ba's — Dua for Healing (Shifa)
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ النَّاسِ أَذْهِبِ الْبَأْسَ، اشْفِ أَنْتَ الشَّافِي، لَا شِفَاءَ إِلَّا شِفَاؤُكَ، شِفَاءً لَا يُغَادِرُ سَقَمًا
Allahumma Rabban-nas, adh-hibil ba's, ishfi antash-shafi, la shifa'a illa shifa'uk, shifa'an la yughadiru saqama
O Allah, Lord of mankind, remove the suffering. Heal, for You are the Healer. There is no healing except Your healing, a healing that leaves no illness behind.
The Prophet's ﷺ dua for the sick — and a prayer for pains that medicine has names for, and ones it does not.
Illness & Hardship
Dua When Visiting the Sick
لَا بَأْسَ طَهُورٌ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ
La ba'sa tahurun in sha Allah
No worry, it is a purification, if Allah wills.
Words for the suffering person: no harm, and a means of purification — illness understood as cleansing, not punishment.
Illness & Hardship
Dua When Placing Hand on Pain
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ (ثَلَاثًا) أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا أَجِدُ وَأُحَاذِرُ (سَبْعًا)
Bismillah (3x). A'udhu billahi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa uhadhiru (7x)
In the name of Allah (3 times). I seek refuge in Allah and in His power from the evil of what I find and what I fear (7 times). Recite while placing the hand on the place of pain.
Hand on the place that hurts: Bismillah three times, then refuge in Allah and His power from the evil of what is felt and feared, seven times.