Question:
when we go to sleep we usually recite the supplication: “Allahﷻ umma bismika amutu wa ahya” “O Allahﷻ , in Your name I die and I live.” People commonly recite this when going to bed at night. But what about daytime sleep? If someone takes a short nap during the day, should the same supplication be recited then as well?
Answer:
To understand this, we must look at the hadith. Some narrations say: When the Prophetﷺ went to bed, he would say this supplication. This wording appears in Sahih al-Bukhari 6312.
Notice the wording: “when he lay down on his bed.” It does not say “only at night.”
People lie down during the day as well, such as during the qaylulah (midday nap).
Another narration in Bukhari 6314 mentions that he said this when he went to bed at night.
Yet another narration in Bukhari 6324 says: “When he intended to sleep…” This wording is broader. It does not limit the supplication to nighttime.
A person might sleep lying down or even sitting while leaning on a chair. The wording simply says, “when he intended to sleep.”
What does this mean? The meaning of the supplication is:
“O Allahﷻ , in Your name I die and in Your name I live.” Here “die” refers to sleep, because sleep resembles a temporary death. When we sleep, our activities stop and our souls are taken in a minor sense.
So the supplication is basically saying: “O Allahﷻ , in Your name I sleep, and in Your name I will awaken.”
Since this meaning applies to any sleep, it can be recited whenever you sleep—whether at night or during the day.
