Four things to listen to before you sleep have a hadith behind them: Ayat al-Kursi, the last two ayat of Surat Al-Baqarah, the three short surahs known as the Quls (Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas), and Surat Al-Mulk. Each one is tied to its own report in Bukhari or Tirmidhi, not to a general feeling that "Quran before bed is good." Played back to back in a calm murattal recitation, the four together run under seven minutes.
Ayat al-Kursi
Ayat al-Kursi is verse 255 of Surat Al-Baqarah, and the hadith that ties it to bedtime has an unusual source. Abu Hurayrah was put in charge of guarding the Ramadan charity store and caught a figure stealing from it three nights running. On the third night, his captive offered him words to say before sleep in exchange for being let go: "Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayat-al-Kursi... till you finish the whole verse. (If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you and no satan will come near you till morning." When Abu Hurayrah told the Prophet ﷺ the next morning, he was told the thief, who turned out to be Satan, had for once told the truth: "He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2311). The advice is sound because the Prophet ﷺ confirmed it, even though the one who first said it was lying about everything else.
The ayah itself:
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ ﴿٢٥٥﴾
البقرة: 255"Allāh - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great."
Al-Baqarah 2:255, Saheeh International
Ibn Kathir's tafsir breaks the ayah into its component statements: that Allah alone deserves worship, that He is Al-Hayy al-Qayyum, the Ever-Living who sustains everything while needing nothing Himself, that neither drowsiness nor sleep ever touches Him, and that everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him, so nothing escapes His knowledge except what He chooses to reveal.
The last two ayat of Al-Baqarah
The Prophet ﷺ said, "If somebody recited the last two Verses of Surat Al-Baqara at night, that will be sufficient for him" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5009). These are ayat 285 and 286, the closing verses of the Quran's longest surah.
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٢٨٥﴾ لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ ۖ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٢٨٦﴾
البقرة: 285-286"The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allāh and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination." Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.""
Al-Baqarah 2:285-286, Saheeh International
Ibn Kathir explains that the first ayah affirms the believers' faith in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers, without setting one messenger above another in that basic belief, and that the second turns to a direct prayer: not to be held to account for what is forgotten or unintentional, and not to be burdened with more than one can bear.
The three Quls
Aisha described the Prophet's own bedtime routine: "Whenever the Prophet ﷺ went to bed every night, he used to cup his hands together and blow over it after reciting Surat Al-Ikhlas, Surat Al-Falaq and Surat An-Nas, and then rub his hands over whatever parts of his body he was able to rub, starting with his head, face and front of his body. He used to do that three times" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5017). This is the one hadith in this list that describes a physical action, not just a recitation, and it names all three of these short surahs together.
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ﴿١﴾ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ ﴿٢﴾ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ﴿٣﴾ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ ﴿٤﴾
الإخلاص: 1-4"Say, "He is Allāh, [who is] One, Allāh, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.""
Al-Ikhlaas 112:1-4, Saheeh International
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ ﴿١﴾ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ﴿٢﴾ وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ﴿٣﴾ وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ ﴿٤﴾ وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ ﴿٥﴾
الفلق: 1-5"Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak From the evil of that which He created And from the evil of darkness when it settles And from the evil of the blowers in knots And from the evil of an envier when he envies.""
Al-Falaq 113:1-5, Saheeh International
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ ﴿١﴾ مَلِكِ النَّاسِ ﴿٢﴾ إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ ﴿٣﴾ مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ ﴿٤﴾ الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ ﴿٥﴾ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ ﴿٦﴾
الناس: 1-6"Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, The Sovereign of mankind, The God of mankind, From the evil of the retreating whisperer Who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind From among the jinn and mankind"."
An-Naas 114:1-6, Saheeh International
Ibn Kathir explains that Al-Falaq names the daybreak itself, and that the surah seeks refuge from the evil found in everything Allah created, including the darkness of night and the harm of envy. An-Nas, he notes, opens with three of Allah's attributes over mankind, that He is their Lord, their Sovereign and their God, and commands whoever seeks protection to ask it of Him against the whispering that reaches every person's heart.
Surat Al-Mulk
Al-Mulk carries its own hasan hadith about its virtue, reported from Abu Hurayrah: "Indeed there is a Surah in the Qur'an of thirty Ayat, which intercedes for a man until he is forgiven. It is [Surah] Tabarak Alladhi Biyadihil-Mulk" (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2891, graded hasan). That is the surah's own name for the first words of its opening ayah.
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿١﴾
الملك: 1"Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent"
Al-Mulk 67:1, Saheeh International
Ibn Kathir explains that Allah opens the surah by declaring that all dominion is in His hand, meaning that He disposes of His creation exactly as He wills and answers to no one, because of His power, His wisdom and His justice. A separate, popular claim ties Al-Mulk specifically to every night before sleep; that report is graded weak, so it is not the basis for reading Al-Mulk here. The surah's own virtue, thirty ayat that intercede for the one who recited them, stands on its own.
Listening to all four in one sitting
Quran Orb's recordings of these surahs, recited by Maher Al-Muaiqly in Hafs an Asim, run 5 minutes 26 seconds for Al-Mulk, 17 seconds for Al-Ikhlas, 25 seconds for Al-Falaq and 30 seconds for An-Nas, under seven minutes altogether, before Ayat al-Kursi and the last two ayat of Al-Baqarah, which sit inside the longer Al-Baqara recording. A steady murattal recitation is easiest to follow with your eyes closed, since the pace barely varies.
A simple order: Ayat al-Kursi, the last two ayat of Al-Baqarah, the three Quls, then Al-Mulk. What matters more than order is doing it most nights, the same way any other nightly listening habit gets easier once it has a fixed place in the evening.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to recite Al-Mulk every night before sleeping?
The verified hadith about Al-Mulk (Tirmidhi 2891) describes the surah's virtue in general, that its thirty ayat intercede for the one who recited them, and does not mention a nightly bedtime habit. The specific report that ties Al-Mulk to every night before sleep is graded weak, so this article does not rely on it, and makes no ruling about what is required.
Why is Ayat al-Kursi recited before sleep?
Because of the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari 2311, in which a thief caught stealing from Abu Hurayrah's charity store taught him to recite it before bed for protection until morning, and the Prophet ﷺ confirmed that this one piece of advice was true, despite it coming from someone who was otherwise lying to him.
Is listening to these surahs the same as reciting them?
This article describes what the hadith say about reciting these passages. Listening closely to a clear recitation is a different act and this article makes no ruling equating the two; many people listen as a way to keep the words present in an unhurried final few minutes before sleep.
How long does it take to listen to all four?
Al-Mulk alone runs 5 minutes 26 seconds in Quran Orb's recording. The three Quls together add about a minute and a quarter. Ayat al-Kursi and the last two ayat of Al-Baqarah are single ayat and a pair of ayat respectively, each a matter of seconds.
Which reciter does Quran Orb use for these recordings?
Maher Al-Muaiqly, reciting in the Hafs an Asim transmission, in a steady murattal style rather than the slower, more ornamented mujawwad style.
Sources
- Saheeh International, English translation of the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Kathir
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2311
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5009
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5017
- Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2891, graded hasan