Dua Qunoot: Arabic text, English translation and when to recite it

Qunoot means standing in obedience, and in prayer it refers to the supplication made while standing. The Dua Qunoot is not a magic sentence to be rushed through; it is a compact summary of everything a believer needs: guidance, health, protection, provision and refuge.

Dua Qunoot in Arabic

Transliteration

Allahumma ihdini feeman hadayt,
wa ‘afini feeman ‘afayt,
wa tawallani feeman tawallayt,
wa barik li feema a‘tayt,
wa qini sharra ma qadayt,
fa innaka taqdi wa la yuqda ‘alayk,
wa innahu la yadhillu man walayt,
wa la ya‘izzu man ‘adayt,
tabarakta rabbana wa ta‘alayt.

English translation

O Allah, guide me among those whom You have guided, grant me health among those whom You have granted health, take me into Your care among those whom You have taken into Your care, bless me in what You have given me, and protect me from the evil of what You have decreed. For indeed You decree and none can decree against You. Indeed, none is humiliated whom You have taken as a friend, and none is honoured whom You have taken as an enemy. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted.

Meaning based on the narration in Sunan Abi Dawud 1425 and Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi 464.

Where does Dua Qunoot come from?

Al-Hasan ibn Ali reported that the Prophet ﷺ taught him these words to say in the Qunoot of Witr. The narration is recorded by Abu Dawud (1425) and al-Tirmidhi (464), and hadith scholars including al-Albani graded it hasan. Some narrations add the phrase wa la manja minka illa ilayk — “and there is no escape from You except to You.”

This is a prophetic teaching, not a later invention. It is also not in the Quran; it belongs to the Sunnah of the prayer.

What the dua is asking for

“Guide me among those whom You have guided”

The first request is guidance, because every other good depends on it. The wording places the worshipper among a company of guided people — a reminder that faith is a path walked with others, not a private opinion.

“Grant me health among those whom You have granted health”

‘Afiyah is more than the absence of illness. It includes safety, well-being and the strength to worship. Asking for it is not a lack of trust; it is obedience to the command to ask.

“Take me into Your care”

Tawalli is to be taken as a friend and protected. The one who is under Allah's care is not abandoned, even when people turn away.

“Bless me in what You have given”

Barakah is not more; it is benefit that remains. A small provision with barakah can be better than abundance without it.

“Protect me from the evil of what You have decreed”

This is one of the deepest lines in the dua. The worshipper accepts that Allah decrees and asks Him to protect from the harm within the decree. It is trust combined with plea, not resignation without hope.

“You decree and none can decree against You”

All power belongs to Allah. No plan can overturn His plan, and no enemy can frustrate His will.

“None is humiliated whom You befriend”

Honour and humiliation are not distributed by people. They are granted by Allah. This line frees the believer from chasing approval and from fearing rejection.

“Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted”

The dua ends in praise, not in a request. That is the proper shape of supplication: ask, then return to glorifying the One who answers.

When is Dua Qunoot recited?

The Qunoot is most closely connected to the Witr prayer, the final voluntary prayer of the night. Witr can be prayed after Isha until Fajr, and the Qunoot is recited in its last rak‘ah.

The schools of Islamic law differ on the details:

If you follow a mosque or a teacher, follow their practice and do not turn a difference of jurisprudence into a conflict. The dua itself is agreed upon; the placement is a matter of scholarly interpretation.

Qunoot al-Nazilah: the qunoot of calamity

There is another category of qunoot known as Qunoot al-Nazilah, recited when the Muslim community faces a calamity, such as war, famine or oppression. In those situations, the Prophet ﷺ would make supplication in the prayer for the weak and against the aggressors.

A well-known supplication transmitted from the time of the Companions begins:

Allahumma inna nasta‘inuka wa nastaghfiruka wa nu’minu bika wa natawakkalu ‘alayka wa nuthni ‘alayka al-khayr.

O Allah, we seek Your help, we seek Your forgiveness, we believe in You, we place our trust in You, and we praise You with all good. This is not a fixed liturgical formula for every prayer; it is a model for supplication in times of public hardship.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating it as obligatory. The Qunoot is Sunnah. Missing it does not invalidate the prayer.
• Adding it to every obligatory prayer. The regular Qunoot belongs to Witr; the qunoot of calamity has its own conditions.
• Rushing the words. The dua is short. Slow down enough to mean what you say.
• Not learning the meaning. A dua understood is a dua prayed with the heart.
• Arguing about placement. The four schools differ; the difference is documented and respected.

How to learn it well

Dua Qunoot is short enough to memorize in a week, but it contains letters and elongations that many learners mispronounce. Start by listening to a reputable reciter, then read along slowly. Ask a teacher to listen to you, especially on words like yuqda, yadhillu and ta‘alayt.

If you are learning Witr prayer from the beginning, our Tajweed course covers the pronunciation, and our Hifz program can help you retain the duas and surahs you memorize.

Frequently asked questions