Duas for Anxiety, Stress and Sadness from the Quran and Sunnah

Anxiety, worry and grief are not signs of weak faith. The prophets felt them. Yaʿqub cried until his eyes went white, Yunus called out from the darkness inside the whale, and the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge from worry and grief every day. What they show us is where to take those feelings: to Allah.

This article collects duas for anxiety and hardship: first from the Quran, the words the prophets themselves used, then from the authentic Sunnah. Each comes in Arabic, with a transliteration and its meaning.

From the Quran

1. The dua of Yunus, from inside the whale

لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبۡحَٰنَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

Lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu minaẓ-ẓālimīn

"There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."

And [mention] the man of the fish [i.e., Jonah], when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers." (21:87)

Yunus called out from three darknesses: the night, the sea and the belly of the whale. The next verse says: "So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers" (21:88). Thus do We save the believers: the promise is not only for Yunus.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "The dua of Dhun-Nun (Yunus) when he called from the belly of the whale: Lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu minaẓ-ẓālimīn. No Muslim ever calls with it for anything except that Allah answers him" (Jami' al-Tirmidhi 3505).

2. Allah is sufficient for us

حَسۡبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعۡمَ ٱلۡوَكِيلُ

Ḥasbunallāhu wa niʿmal-wakīl

"Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs."

Those to whom people [i.e., hypocrites] said, "Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them." But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, "Sufficient for us is Allāh, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs." (3:173)

Ibn ʿAbbas said these words were said by Ibrahim when he was thrown into the fire, and by Muhammad ﷺ and his Companions when they were told a great army had gathered against them (Sahih al-Bukhari 4563). Say it when you are afraid of people or of what is coming.

A similar dua, said seven times by many Muslims in the morning and evening, is the last verse of Surah At-Tawbah:

حَسۡبِيَ ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَلَيۡهِ تَوَكَّلۡتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ ٱلۡعَرۡشِ ٱلۡعَظِيمِ

Ḥasbiyallāhu lā ilāha illā huwa, ʿalayhi tawakkaltu wa huwa rabbul-ʿarshil-ʿaẓīm

"Sufficient for me is Allah; there is no deity except Him. On Him I have relied, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne." (9:129)

3. Musa: expand my chest

قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشۡرَحۡ لِي صَدۡرِي وَيَسِّرۡ لِيٓ أَمۡرِي وَٱحۡلُلۡ عُقۡدَةٗ مِّن لِّسَانِي يَفۡقَهُواْ قَوۡلِي

Rabbish-raḥ lī ṣadrī, wa yassir lī amrī, waḥlul ʿuqdatam-min lisānī, yafqahū qawlī

[Moses] said, "My Lord, expand [i.e., relax] for me my breast [with assurance] and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech. (20:25-28)

Musa said this when Allah sent him to Pharaoh, the most powerful tyrant of his time, while Musa was a fugitive with a stammer. It is a dua for any task that feels too big: an exam, an interview, a hard conversation. A tight chest is exactly what anxiety feels like, and ishraḥ lī ṣadrī asks Allah to open it.

4. Yaʿqub: I complain only to Allah

إِنَّمَآ أَشۡكُواْ بَثِّي وَحُزۡنِيٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ

Innamā ashkū baththī wa ḥuznī ilallāh

"I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah." (12:86)

Yaʿqub had lost Yusuf, and then his youngest son too. He didn't pretend to be fine; he wept so much that his eyes turned white (12:84). But he took his grief to Allah, not to complaining against Allah. Telling Allah exactly how you feel is not a lack of patience; it is the opposite. Bathth is a sorrow so heavy you can't keep it in.

5. Ayyub: harm has touched me

أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرۡحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ

Annī massaniyaḍ-ḍurru wa anta arḥamur-rāḥimīn

"Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the most merciful of the merciful." (21:83)

Ayyub lost his wealth, his children and his health, for years. His dua doesn't even ask for anything directly. He describes his state, and mentions Allah's mercy. "So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity" (21:84).

6. Musa: I am in need of whatever good You send

رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَآ أَنزَلۡتَ إِلَيَّ مِنۡ خَيۡرٖ فَقِيرٞ

Rabbi innī limā anzalta ilayya min khayrin faqīr

"My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need." (28:24)

Musa had fled Egypt alone, with no home, no work and no food. He helped two women water their flocks, sat in the shade, and said this. Within a few verses he had a home, work and a family (28:25-27). It is a dua for anyone anxious about money, work or the future.

7. When something is lost

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيۡهِ رَٰجِعُونَ

Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allāh, and indeed to Him we will return." Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided. (2:155-157)

Everything we have belongs to Allah, and so do we. Saying this when you lose something, whether a person, money or a plan, is not just a phrase for funerals. It puts the loss in its place.

From the Sunnah

8. Refuge from worry and grief

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ، وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ

Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika minal-hammi wal-ḥazan, wal-ʿajzi wal-kasal, wal-jubni wal-bukhl, wa ḍalaʿid-dayni wa ghalabatir-rijāl

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from worry and grief, from helplessness and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, from the burden of debt and from being overpowered by men."

Anas said he often heard the Prophet ﷺ say this (Sahih al-Bukhari 6369). Hamm is worry about what might happen; ḥazan is grief over what has happened. Between them, they cover most of what we call anxiety.

9. The dua of distress

لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَرَبُّ الْأَرْضِ وَرَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ

Lā ilāha illallāhul-ʿaẓīmul-ḥalīm, lā ilāha illallāhu rabbul-ʿarshil-ʿaẓīm, lā ilāha illallāhu rabbus-samāwāti wa rabbul-arḍi wa rabbul-ʿarshil-karīm

"There is no god but Allah, the Mighty, the Forbearing. There is no god but Allah, Lord of the Mighty Throne. There is no god but Allah, Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth and Lord of the Noble Throne."

The Prophet ﷺ used to say this at times of distress (karb) (Sahih al-Bukhari 6346). It contains no request at all, only praise. Remembering how great your Lord is makes the problem smaller.

10. Allah, Allah is my Lord

اللَّهُ اللَّهُ رَبِّي لَا أُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا

Allāhu Allāhu rabbī, lā ushriku bihī shayʾā

"Allah, Allah is my Lord; I do not associate anything with Him."

The Prophet ﷺ taught these words to Asmaʾ bint ʿUmays to say in distress (Sunan Abi Dawud 1525, graded sahih by al-Albani). It is short enough to say at any moment.

11. "I am Your servant…"

There is a longer dua for worry and grief, recorded by Imam Ahmad from Ibn Masʿud and graded sahih by al-Albani and others, which begins Allāhumma innī ʿabduka, ibnu ʿabdika, ibnu amatik… ("O Allah, I am Your servant, son of Your servant, son of Your maidservant…"). In it, you ask Allah by every name He has to make the Quran "the spring of my heart, the light of my chest, the removal of my sadness and the departure of my worry". The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever says it, Allah will remove his worry and replace his grief with joy.

What the Quran says about hardship

These verses aren't duas, but they are worth keeping close when you are anxious:

Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allāh. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allāh hearts are assured." (13:28)

O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allāh is with the patient. (2:153)

Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. (2:286)

And twice, in Surah Ash-Sharh: "For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease." For the last two verses of Al-Baqarah, which end with a long dua for relief, see this article.

A note on getting help

Duas are not instead of help; they go with it. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah has not sent down a disease without sending down its cure" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5678), and anxiety and depression can be illnesses like any other. If worry is affecting your sleep, work or relationships, talking to a doctor or a counsellor is following the Sunnah, not leaving it. And every hardship a believer goes through, even the prick of a thorn, wipes away some of their sins (Sahih al-Bukhari 5641).

How to use these duas

• Pick one or two and learn them by heart. The dua of Yunus and Ḥasbunallāhu wa niʿmal-wakīl are short enough to learn today.
• Say them in sujud. The servant is closest to his Lord in prostration.
• Tell Allah exactly how you feel, in your own language too, as Yaʿqub did.
• Read the stories behind them. Yunus, Musa, Yaʿqub and Ayyub were all rescued. Their stories are in the Quran so that we remember that.
• Keep up the basics. Prayer on time, the morning and evening adhkar, and regular Quran recitation.

You can read the Quran with translation on Quran Surfer, and listen to any surah while you read.