Duʿā is worship: asking Allah for guidance, forgiveness, protection and every lawful need. The Sunnah teaches a beautiful etiquette for supplication: praise Allah, send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, then ask Allah for what you need. It does not require a fixed sequence in which you must ask for yourself, then family, then the Ummah.
Qur’anic supplications
Good in this world and the Hereafter
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
Rabbana ātinā fid-dunyā ḥasanatan wa fil-ākhirati ḥasanatan wa qinā ʿadhāban-nār.
“Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”
Forgiveness and mercy
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ وَارْحَمْ وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
Rabbighfir warḥam wa anta khayrur-rāḥimīn.
“My Lord, forgive and have mercy, and You are the best of the merciful.”
For spouse and children
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Rabbanā hab lanā min azwājinā wa dhurriyyātinā qurrata aʿyunin wajʿalnā lil-muttaqīna imāmā.
Ask Allah to make your spouse and descendants a comfort to your eyes and to make you an example for the righteous.
Forgiveness, steadfastness and help
رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
Rabbanaghfir lanā dhunūbanā wa isrāfanā fī amrinā wa thabbit aqdāmanā wanṣurnā ʿalal-qawmil-kāfirīn.
This is a Qur’anic supplication beginning with Rabbana (“Our Lord”), not “Allahumma”.
Ease and clarity
رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي
Rabbishraḥ lī ṣadrī, wa yassir lī amrī, waḥlul ʿuqdatan min lisānī, yafqahū qawlī.
Musa عليه السلام asked Allah to expand his chest, ease his task and make his speech understood.
Patience and steadfastness
رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
Rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wa thabbit aqdāmanā wanṣurnā ʿalal-qawmil-kāfirīn.
The supplication of Yunus عليه السلام
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
Lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu minaẓ-ẓālimīn.
The Qur’an records these words of Yunus عليه السلام, and an authentic hadith describes their virtue in supplication. No fixed “33 times” count is prescribed in that report.
Increase me in knowledge
رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا
Rabbi zidnī ʿilmā. — “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.”
Authentic everyday supplications
Protection at a stopping place
أَعُوذُ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ التَّامَّاتِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ
Aʿūdhu bi-kalimātillāhit-tāmmāti min sharri mā khalaq.
“I seek refuge in the Perfect Words of Allah from the evil of what He has created.”
Entering and leaving the home
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَلَجْنَا، وَبِسْمِ اللَّهِ خَرَجْنَا، وَعَلَى رَبِّنَا تَوَكَّلْنَا
Bismillāhi walajnā, wa bismillāhi kharajnā, wa ʿalā Rabbinā tawakkalnā. — upon entering.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ، وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ
Bismillāhi, tawakkaltu ʿalallāh, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh. — upon leaving.
When mounting transport
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُونَ
Subḥānal-ladhī sakhkhara lanā hādhā wa mā kunnā lahu muqrinīn, wa innā ilā Rabbinā lamunqalibūn.
From incapacity, laziness and cowardice
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْجُبْنِ
Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu bika minal-ʿajzi wal-kasali wal-jubn.
The fuller authentic narrations also include refuge from old age, miserliness, the punishment of the grave and the trials of life and death.
For wellbeing of body, hearing and sight
اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِي بَدَنِي، اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِي سَمْعِي، اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِي بَصَرِي، لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ
Allāhumma ʿāfinī fī badanī, Allāhumma ʿāfinī fī samʿī, Allāhumma ʿāfinī fī baṣarī, lā ilāha illā ant.
This forms part of an established morning/evening supplication; the full report continues with seeking refuge from disbelief, poverty and the punishment of the grave.