اللَّهُمَّ بِكَ أَصْبَحْنَا، وَبِكَ أَمْسَيْنَا، وَبِكَ نَحْيَا، وَبِكَ نَمُوتُ وَإِلَيْكَ النُّشُورُ
O Allah, by You we enter the morning and by You we enter the evening, by You we live and by You we die, and to You is the Final Return
To be recited once
Brief Commentary
- In the evening, we swap the words أصبحنا and أمسينا around, and we say المصير instead of النشور e. we say اللَّهُمَّ بِكَ أَمْسَيْنَا، وَبِكَ أَصْبَحْنَا، وَبِكَ نَحْيَا، وَبِكَ نَمُوتُ وَإِلَيْكَ المَصِير
- This doesn’t change the meaning much, but it makes it more appropriate that we begin the supplication by mentioning our current period of the day, which is the evening
- The Prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) used to say this supplication once every morning and evening, and he commanded us to say it too [1]
- When we make this supplication, we shouldn’t just acknowledge that we entered the morning and evening only, we should also consider the state in which we have entered this morning and evening, which is a state of health, safety, security and much more, in order to be even more grateful
- The phrase “by You we live” is the crux of this supplication, it’s fulcrum, it’s axis, it’s central feature: here we are testifying that everything, small or large, is by and through the One. All matters belong to Him, and Him alone. We therefore utter these words as a display of gratitude, and in hope that the Shakur recompenses our gratitude with yet more of His Magnanimity
- If we acknowledge that we will only die when Allah wills so, we become more reliant and dependent upon him, and reduce our fear of others as we know that only He decides when, how, or where we die
- In the morning, we finish off the supplication by saying that our resurrection will be to Allah. This is pertinent to be said in the morning, as we have just woken up from a minor death (sleep), so we remind ourselves that when we wake up from the major death, it will be to stand before Allah, so we should prepare for this moment
- In the evening, we finish off the supplication by saying that our return will be to Allah. This is pertinent to be said in the evening, as we are about to finish and complete our day, so we remind ourselves that when we finish and complete our life, we will return to Allah, so we should prepare for this moment
Action Points
- This hadith reminds us to always be connected to Allah and remember His blessings over us, as we acknowledge that we only entered the morning and evening through His blessings, and we are living due to His blessings over us, and will only die when He decrees so
- Make sure you always acknowledge Allah’s blessings over you, no matter how small the blessing may seem
- Use the daily actions you take to remind you of the hereafter, so that you can prepare for it, just like this supplication uses the morning and evening as signs that remind us of the hereafter
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- Hadith, reported by Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, hadith number 1199, Imam Ahmed, hadith number 8649, and Ibn Majah, hadith number 3868
Hadith Commentary 