The dua of Taif, and what is known about it.

The dua of Taif is the moving prayer the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have made after the people of Taif rejected him and drove him out with stones, about three years before the Hijrah. It begins Allahumma ilayka ashku du'fa quwwati, "O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness." Its chain of narration is weak, so it is shared here as a historical report, not as a Sunnah wording with a promised reward.

Dua 1: The dua of Taif

اللَّهُمَّ إِلَيْكَ أَشْكُو ضَعْفَ قُوَّتِي، وَقِلَّةَ حِيلَتِي، وَهَوَانِي عَلَى النَّاسِ، يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ، أَنْتَ رَبُّ الْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ، وَأَنْتَ رَبِّي، إِلَى مَنْ تَكِلُنِي؟ إِلَى بَعِيدٍ يَتَجَهَّمُنِي؟ أَمْ إِلَى عَدُوٍّ مَلَّكْتَهُ أَمْرِي؟ إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ بِكَ عَلَيَّ غَضَبٌ فَلَا أُبَالِي، وَلَكِنْ عَافِيَتُكَ هِيَ أَوْسَعُ لِي، أَعُوذُ بِنُورِ وَجْهِكَ الَّذِي أَشْرَقَتْ لَهُ الظُّلُمَاتُ، وَصَلُحَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، مِنْ أَنْ تُنْزِلَ بِي غَضَبَكَ، أَوْ يَحِلَّ عَلَيَّ سُخْطُكَ، لَكَ الْعُتْبَى حَتَّى تَرْضَى، وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِكَ

Allāhumma ilayka ashkū ḍaʿfa quwwatī, wa qillata ḥīlatī, wa hawānī ʿalan-nās. Yā arḥamar-rāḥimīn, anta rabbul-mustaḍʿafīn, wa anta rabbī. Ilā man takilunī? Ilā baʿīdin yatajahhamunī, am ilā ʿaduwwin mallaktahū amrī? In lam yakun bika ʿalayya ghaḍabun falā ubālī, wa lākin ʿāfiyatuka hiya awsaʿu lī. Aʿūdhu bi-nūri wajhikal-ladhī ashraqat lahuẓ-ẓulumāt, wa ṣaluḥa ʿalayhi amrud-dunyā wal-ākhirah, min an tunzila bī ghaḍabak, aw yaḥilla ʿalayya sukhṭuk. Lakal-ʿutbā ḥattā tarḍā, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā bik.

O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness, my lack of means and how little people think of me. O Most Merciful of the merciful, You are the Lord of the oppressed, and You are my Lord. To whom will You leave me? To a stranger who frowns at me, or to an enemy You have given power over me? If You are not angry with me, I do not mind, but Your protection is wider for me. I seek refuge in the light of Your face, by which all darkness is lit and the affairs of this world and the next are set right, from Your anger falling on me or Your displeasure descending on me. I will keep turning to You until You are pleased. There is no power and no strength except through You.

Ibn Ishaq, al-Sirah (through Ibn Hisham), without a connected chain; al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, from Abdullah ibn Jafar. Graded weak by al-Albani

Our teachers will check the Arabic and transliteration on this page before launch.

Guide

When and how to say it.

Is the dua of Taif authentic?

Ibn Ishaq reports it in his biography of the Prophet ﷺ without a connected chain of narrators. Al-Tabarani reports it with a chain that runs through Ibn Ishaq, who was known for not always naming whom he heard from. Al-Haythami said the narrators in al-Tabarani's chain are trustworthy apart from that concern, and al-Albani graded the hadith weak.¹ So the exact wording is not established with certainty.

Its meaning is sound, so you may say these words as your own dua, as long as you do not attribute a fixed reward to them or present them as a proven Sunnah wording.

What is authentic about Taif

Aishah asked the Prophet ﷺ whether he had faced a day harder than the battle of Uhud. He told her of the day he presented himself to Ibn Abd Yalil and was rejected, and walked away in distress until he came to Qarn al-Thaalib. There Jibril came with the angel of the mountains, who offered to crush the people between two mountains. The Prophet ﷺ refused and said he hoped Allah would bring from their descendants people who would worship Allah alone.²

Authentic duas for the same moment

For feeling weak, rejected or overwhelmed, the Sunnah has duas with sound chains: the dua of Yunus and the dua in distress on dua for anxiety, and the duas on dua for patience.

Al-Haythami, Majma al-Zawa'id, on al-Tabarani's narration; al-Albani graded it weak.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3231; Sahih Muslim 1795.
Ibn Ishaq, al-Sirah (through Ibn Hisham), without a connected chain; al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, from Abdullah ibn Jafar. Graded weak by al-Albani

Questions

Good to know.

What is the dua of Taif?

The dua the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have made after being driven out of Taif, beginning Allahumma ilayka ashku du'fa quwwati, wa qillata hilati, wa hawani alan-nas.

Is the Taif dua authentic?

Its chain is weak. Ibn Ishaq reports it without a connected chain, and al-Albani graded al-Tabarani's narration weak. The event at Taif itself is authentic (Bukhari 3231).

Can I recite the dua of Taif?

Yes, as your own dua, since its meaning is sound. Do not claim a fixed reward for it.

What happened at Taif?

The people of Taif rejected the Prophet ﷺ. When the angel of the mountains offered to destroy them, he refused and hoped their descendants would worship Allah (Bukhari 3231; Muslim 1795).