Dua for seeking relief from distress
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Never has anyone been afflicted with distress or grief and said:
allāhumma innī ʿabduk, ibnu ʿabdik, ibnu amatik, nāṣiyatī bi-yadik, māḍin fiyya ḥukmuk, ʿadlun fiyya qaḍāʾuk, asʾaluka bi-kulli ismin huwa lak, sammayta bi-hī nafsak, aw ʿallamtahu aḥadan min khalqik, aw anzaltahū fī kitābik, aw istaʾtharta bi-hī fī ʿilm al-ghaybi ʿindak, an tajʿal al-qurʾāna rabīʿa qalbī, wa-nūra ṣadrī, wa-jilāʾa ḥuznī, wa-dhahāba hammī
(O Allah, I am your servant, son of your servant, son of your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You, that You make the Quran the life of my heart and the light of my chest, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),
except that Allah will take away his distress and grief, and replace it with joy." It was said, "O Messenger of Allah, should we not learn it?" He replied, "Of course, whoever hears it should learn it."
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ: «مَا أَصَابَ أَحَدًا قَطُّ هَمٌّ وَلَا حَزَنٌ فَقَالَ:
(اللهُمَّ إِنِّي عَبْدُكَ ابْنُ عَبْدِكَ ابْنُ أَمَتِكَ نَاصِيَتِي بِيَدِكَ مَاضٍ فِيَّ حُكْمُكَ عَدْلٌ فِيَّ قَضَاؤُكَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ أَوْ عَلَّمْتَهُ أَحَدًا مِنْ خَلْقِكَ أَوْ أَنْزَلْتَهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ أَوِ اسْتَأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الْغَيْبِ عِنْدَكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ الْقُرْآنَ رَبِيعَ قَلْبِي وَنُورَ صَدْرِي وَجِلَاءَ حُزْنِي وَذَهَابَ هَمِّي)
إِلَّا أَذْهَبَ اللهُ هَمَّهُ وَحُزْنَهُ وَأَبْدَلَهُ مَكَانَهُ فَرَحًا۔» قَالَ فَقِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ أَلَا نَتَعَلَّمُهَا؟ فَقَالَ: «بَلَى يَنْبَغِي لِمَنْ سَمِعَهَا أَنْ يَتَعَلَّمَهَا۔»