Waking up is one of the smallest miracles we ignore. The Prophet ﷺ taught us a single line of gratitude to begin the day — recited the moment our eyes open, before any phone, news or worry reaches us. It pairs directly with the dua he ﷺ said before sleeping.
The dua when waking up
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَحْيَانَا بَعْدَ مَا أَمَاتَنَا وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ
Alhamdu lillahi alladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhin-nushur.
All praise is for Allah who gave us life after He had caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection.
(Sahih al-Bukhari 6312 — narrated by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (RA))
Why this dua matters
The Prophet ﷺ described sleep as a 'minor death'. Each morning we are returned to the world without earning it. The dua reminds us of three truths in one short sentence: gratitude (alhamdu lillah), the reality that Allah took our soul and returned it (ahyana ba'da ma amatana), and the certainty that one day we will be raised for the final time (wa ilayhin-nushur).
The Sunnah of waking up
- Recite this dua immediately upon opening your eyes, before anything else.
- Wipe sleep from your face with your hands — the Prophet ﷺ would do this gently.
- Use the siwak (or brush your teeth) — Hudhayfah (RA) reported that the Prophet ﷺ would clean his mouth with the siwak when he woke at night.
- Make wudu and pray two rak'ahs — even before breakfast — so the first words of your day are also the words of prayer.
Hadith authenticity
The hadith is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari (6312) and is considered among the most authentic narrations in Islamic literature. The same companion, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (RA), narrated both the sleeping and the waking duas — a pair that the Prophet ﷺ practised every single night.