Adhkar al-Sabah wal-Masa'

The Foundation: Why Daily Adhkar?

The Quran repeatedly commands the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah:

“O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance and exalt Him morning and afternoon.” (33:41-42)

“So remember Me; I will remember you.” (2:152)

“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” (13:28)

The Prophet (SAW) taught specific formulae for the morning and evening — not because any arbitrary dhikr is insufficient, but because these tested phrases carry both prophetic authority and spiritual efficacy: they were chosen by the Prophet as the most comprehensive and powerful forms of morning/evening remembrance.

The morning adhkar are typically recited after Fajr (dawn prayer) and before midday. The evening adhkar are recited after ‘Asr (afternoon prayer) or at sunset.

Core Morning Adhkar

1. The Master of Seeking Forgiveness — Sayyid al-Istighfar

“Allahumma anta rabbi la ilaha illa anta, khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduka, wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika mastata’tu, a’udhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu, abu’u laka bi-ni’matika ‘alayya, wa abu’u bi-dhanbi, faghfir li fa-innahu la yaghfiru al-dhunuba illa ant.”

Translation: “O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I am upon Your covenant and promise to the best of my ability. I seek refuge with You from the evil that I have done. I acknowledge before You Your favors upon me, and I acknowledge my sin. So forgive me, for none forgives sins but You.”

Source: Bukhari (6306) from Shaddad ibn Aws (RA)

The Prophet’s teaching: “Whoever says this with certainty in the morning and dies during that day before evening will be among the people of Paradise; and whoever says it with certainty in the evening and dies that night will be among the people of Paradise.” — Bukhari

Structure: This single du’a’ contains tawhid (You are my Lord; no god but You), creation (You created me), covenant (‘ahd and wa’d — promise to serve), tawba (I seek refuge from my evil), gratitude (I acknowledge Your favors), humility (I acknowledge my sin), and petition (forgive me). A complete spiritual framework in a single breath.

2. The Morning Affirmation

“Asbahna wa asbaha al-mulku lillah, wa al-hamdu lillah, la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-hamdu wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadir. Rabbi as’aluka khayra ma fi hadha al-yawm wa khayra ma ba’dahu, wa a’udhu bika min sharri ma fi hadha al-yawm wa sharri ma ba’dahu.”

Translation: “We have entered the morning and with it all dominion belongs to Allah. Praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner. To Him belongs all dominion and to Him is all praise, and He is Able to do all things. My Lord, I ask You for the good of this day and the good of what comes after it, and I seek refuge with You from the evil of this day and the evil of what comes after it.”

Source: Muslim (2723)

3. Ayat al-Kursi

“Allahu la ilaha illa huwa, al-hayyu al-qayyumu, la ta’khudhuhu sinatun wa la nawm, lahu ma fi al-samawati wa ma fi al-ard, man dha alladhi yashfa’u ‘indahu illa bi-idhnihi…”

Translation: “Allah — there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?…”* (2:255)

Source: Abu Dawud, Nasa’i; multiple hadith sources

The Prophet’s teaching: “Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi after each prescribed prayer, nothing prevents him from entering Paradise but death.” — Nasa’i; “Whoever recites it in the morning is protected until evening; whoever recites it in the evening is protected until morning.” — various sources

Ayat al-Kursi is the single most comprehensive description of the divine’s attributes in the Quran — the ayah most concentrated with tawhid. Reciting it in the morning and evening is reciting the most complete possible testimony to the divine’s reality.

4. The Three Quls — Al-Mu’awwidhataan and Al-Ikhlas

Reciting three times each:

Surah al-Ikhlas (112): “Qul huwa Allahu ahad…”
Surah al-Falaq (113): “Qul a’udhu bi-rabbi al-falaq…”
Surah al-Nas (114): “Qul a’udhu bi-rabbi al-nas…”

Source: Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi (from ‘Abd Allah ibn Khubaib — the Prophet instructed him to recite these three surahs three times each in the morning and evening, and: “That will be sufficient for you against everything.”)

Why these three: Surah al-Ikhlas affirms tawhid (one third of the Quran’s theological content, as the Prophet described it). Al-Falaq seeks protection from external harms (darkness, those who blow on knots, the envious). Al-Nas seeks protection from internal harms (the whisperer in the breast — from jinn and humans). Together: affirming the divine, protecting from all external and internal threats.

See also: Jinn In Islam, Dhikr

5. The Morning Salawat

“Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa ali Muhammad.”

Translation: “O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.”

The salawat is not merely a courtesy to the Prophet — it is a participation in the divine’s own salah (literally: the divine’s attention/praise) to the Prophet. The Quran says:

“Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.” (33:56)

Reciting the salawat in the morning and evening is a daily renewal of the bond with the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt — the connection that links the worshipper to the entire prophetic tradition.

Core Evening Adhkar

The evening adhkar parallel the morning adhkar, with modifications:

1. The Evening Master of Seeking Forgiveness

The same Sayyid al-Istighfar, with “amsayna” (we have entered the evening) replacing “asbahna” where applicable.

2. The Evening Affirmation

“Amsayna wa amsa al-mulku lillah…” — paralleling the morning version but with the evening vocabulary.

3. The Evening Protection

“A’udhu bi-kalimat Allahi al-tammati min sharri ma khalaq.”

Translation: “I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created.”

Source: Muslim (2708) — from Khawlah bint Hakim: “Whoever stops at a place and says: ‘I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created’ — nothing will harm him until he departs from that place.”

In the Bohra tradition: This du’a’ is specifically taught for stopping at any new place — on arrival at a hotel, a new city, beginning a journey. The kalimaat Allah al-tammaat (the perfect words of Allah) are identified with the Quran in the zahir and with the Imam’s ta’wil in the batin.

4. Pre-Sleep Adhkar

The Prophet taught specific du’as for before sleep:

“Allahumma bismika amutu wa ahya.” (“O Allah, in Your name I die and I live.”)

“Allahu Akbar” (33 times) + “Subhanallah” (33 times) + “Alhamdulillah” (33 times) + “La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah…” (once)

Source: Bukhari, Muslim — from Fatima al-Zahra (RA): the Prophet taught this to Imam ‘Ali and Sayyida Fatima when they asked for a servant to help with housework, instead giving them this as “better than what you have asked for.”

The story of this teaching — given to the Imam and Sayyida Fatima — is particularly significant for the Bohra tradition: it connects the pre-sleep dhikr directly to the Ahl al-Bayt’s own practice.

The Bohra Practice of Adhkar

In the Dawoodi Bohra tradition, the morning and evening adhkar are embedded in a broader practice:

Post-Fajr: After the Fajr prayer, the adhkar al-sabah are recited. This may include specific du’as taught by the Dai al-Mutlaq for the community.

Post-Maghrib: The evening adhkar follow the Maghrib and ‘Isha’ prayers.

The Wird tradition: Many Bohras also have a personal wird (regular devotional practice) — a specific set of surahs, du’as, or dhikr recited daily in addition to the standard adhkar. Receiving a wird from the Dai al-Mutlaq or from one’s mentor (ustadh) in the da’wa is considered a spiritual gift.

Collective adhkar: On certain occasions (Ashura, ‘Eid, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan evenings), the community gathers for collective dhikr sessions that amplify individual practice through the community’s combined presence.

The Spiritual Logic of Daily Adhkar

The morning and evening adhkar are not merely practices to check off a list. Their timing — at the day’s beginning and end — is spiritually significant:

Morning: The soul enters the day’s engagement with the world; the morning adhkar orient the soul toward the divine before the world’s concerns crowd in. The day that begins with “la ilaha illallah” has its priorities established before any worldly agenda.

Evening: The soul takes stock of the day and returns to the divine’s presence before sleep. The evening adhkar are the soul’s report to itself — and to the divine — at the day’s end.

The cycle of morning and evening adhkar creates what the Quran calls dhikr kathiran (much remembrance — 33:41): not a single moment of remembrance but a structure of remembrance that bookends the day and, ideally, infuses the hours between.

Adhkar al-Sabah wal-Masa' — Morning and Evening Remembrance