is that this invocation, recited when one lies down, reflects the fact that sleep is a kind of death—albeit a minor one. Allah says: “It is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have done by day; then He revives you” and He says, “Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die during their sleep.” For this reason, whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rose in the night he would say, “Praise be to Allah who revived us after having caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection.”

Thus you praise Allah for bringing you back to life after that “death,” and you remind yourself that “the resurrection” means rising from the graves—and that standing before Allah will inevitably follow. Your awakening from this lesser death should make you remember the awakening from the greater death, so you repeat: “Praise be to Allah who revived us after He had caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection.”

In this lies a profound wisdom: Allah has made sleep a rest for the body from what has passed and a renewal for what lies ahead, while also turning it into a reminder of the Hereafter. When you rise from your grave after death, you will stand alive before Allah just as you rise each morning from your bed.

Such reflection increases your faith in the resurrection, and belief in the resurrection is vital. Were a person not convinced that he will be raised and held accountable, he would hardly act. Hence, Allah often couples faith in the Last Day with faith in Himself, as in His words: “Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day,” and many similar verses.

The essential point, then, is that when you retire to bed you should say, “In Your Name, O Allah, I live and I die,” and when you awaken you should say, “Praise be to Allah who revived us after He had caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection.” Allah is the One who grants success.