656 – With this same chain, Yazid b. Harun related to us; Muhammad b. Ishaq narrated from ʿAmr b. Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to teach us certain words to say at bedtime when we felt afraid:

“In the name of Allah. I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from His anger and His punishment, from the evil of His servants, from the insinuations of the devils, and from their coming near me.”

ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAmr would teach these words to whichever of his children had reached understanding; for those who had not yet reached that age, he would write them down and hang them on the child.