The Prophet ﷺ knew hardship intimately — loss, persecution, grief. He turned to Allah with specific words in every trial. These supplications are a refuge when the world feels heavy.
How to use these: When distress strikes, you may not have the strength for long supplications. Start with one short dua — "Yā Ḥayyu yā Qayyūm…" or "Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh." Repeat it. Let your tongue carry your heart back to Allah.
Allāhumma innī ʿabduk, ibnu ʿabdik, ibnu amatik, nāṣiyatī bi-yadik, māḍin fiyya ḥukmuk, ʿadlun fiyya qaḍāʾuk, asʾaluka bi-kulli smin huwa lak, sammayta bihi nafsak, aw anzaltahu fī kitābik, aw ʿallamtahu aḥadan min khalqik, awi staʾtharta bihi fī ʿilmi l-ghaybi ʿindak, an tajʿala l-Qurʾāna rabīʿa qalbī, wa nūra ṣadrī, wa jalāʾa ḥuznī, wa dhahāba hammī.
O Allah, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your hand. Your command concerning me prevails, and Your decree concerning me is just. I ask You by every name that is Yours — that You have named Yourself, or revealed in Your Book, or taught any of Your creation, or kept hidden in the knowledge of the unseen with You — to make the Quran the spring of my heart, the light of my chest, the banisher of my sadness, and the reliever of my distress.
Musnad Aḥmad 3712.
No servant is struck by anxiety or grief and says this except that Allah will remove his grief and replace it with joy.
Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika mina l-hammi wa l-ḥazan, wa l-ʿajzi wa l-kasal, wa l-bukhli wa l-jubn, wa ḍalaʿi d-dayni wa ghalabati r-rijāl.
O Allah, I seek refuge in You from worry and grief, from helplessness and laziness, from miserliness and cowardice, and from the burden of debt and the oppression of men.
O Allah, it is Your mercy that I hope for, so do not leave me to myself for even the blink of an eye. Set right all my affairs. There is no god but You.
Abū Dāwūd 5090.
Dua 9
Mūsā's dua for ease
Before any challenging task or overwhelming situation