The last prayer of the night that the Prophet ﷺ highly emphasized performing
الَّلهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْتَعِيْنُكَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ
وَ نُؤْمِنُ بِكَ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْكَ
و َنُثْنِيْ عَلَيْكَ الْخَيْرَ
وَ نَشْكُرُكَ وَلَا نَكْفُرُكَ
وَ نَخْلَعُ وَ نَتْرُكُ مَنْ يَفْجُرُكَ
اللَّهُمَّ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ
وَ لَكَ نُصَلِّيْ وَنَسْجُدُ
وَ إِلَيْكَ نَسْعَى وَنَحْفِدُ
نَرْجُوْ رَحْمَتَكَ وَنَخْشَى عَذَابَكَ
إِنَّ عَذَابَكَ الجِدَّ بِالكُفَّارِ مُلْحِقٌ
Dear God! We seek Your help and forgiveness
We believe in You and put our trust in You
We praise and thank You, and we do not reject You
We cast out and abandon anyone who disobeys You
Allah! We worship You alone
and we pray and bow our heads to the ground for You alone
We earnestly strive and hasten to You alone
We hope for Your grace and fear Your punishment
No doubt, Your true punishment will be dealt to the disbelievers.
Allāhumma innā nastaʿīnuka wa nastaghfiruka
wa nu’minu bika wa natawakkalu alayk
wa nuthnī alayka l-khayr
wa nashkuruka wa la nakfuruk
wa nakhlaʿu wa natruku man yafjuruk
Allāhumma iyyāka naʿbudu
wa laka nuṣallī wa nasjud
wa ilayka nasʿā wa naḥfid
narjū raḥmataka wa nakhshā ʿadhābak
inna ʿadhābak bi l-kuffāri mulḥiq
اَللّهُمَّ اهْدِنِىْ فِيْمَنْ هَدَيْتَ
وَ عَافِنِى فِيْمَنْ عَافَيْتَ
وَ تَوَلَّنِىْ فِيْمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ
وَ بَارِكْ لِىْ فِيْمَا اَعْطَيْتَ
وَ قِنِيْ شَرَّ مَا قََضَيْتَ
فَاِ نَّكَ تَقْضِىْ وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ
وَ اِ نَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ
تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ
Dear God! Guide me like those You have guided
Protect me like those You have protected
Guard me like those You have guarded
Bless me in what You have given me
And save me from the evil which You know
Because You decree and nothing can be decreed against You
Whomever You support can never be disgraced
You are blessed, Master, and high above all else.
allāhumma h-dinī fī man hadayt
wa ʿāfinī fī man ʿāfayt
wa tawallanī fī man tawallayt
wa bārik lī fī mā aʿṭayt
wa qinī sharra mā qaḍayt
fa innaka taqḍī wa lā yuqḍā ʿalayk
wa innahu lā yadhillu maw-wālayt
tabārakta rabbanā wa taʿālayt
Allah, I seek protection in Your Pleasure against Your Wrath.
And I seek protection in Your Pardon against Your chastisement.
And I seek protection from You with You.
I am not capable of praising You properly.
You are as You have praised Yourself
Allāhumma innī aʿūdhu biriḍāka min sakhaṭik
wa bi muʿāfātika min ʿuqūbatik
wa aʿudhu bika mink
lā ūḥṣī thnāʾan ʿalayka
anta kamʿ athnayta ʿalā nafsika
Allah is above all imperfection (x3)
or
Allah, forgive me! (x3)
or
Dear Lord! Give us the best in this life, the next life
and protect us from the punishment of the Fire
subḥān-Allāh (x3)
or
Allāhumma ighfirlī (x3)
or
Rabbanā ātinā fid-dunyā ḥasanatan
wa fil ākhirati ḥasanatan
wa qinā ʿadhāban-nār
Witr literally means “odd,” which is in reference to the odd number of raka’āt (units) in the prayer. It is one of the most emphasized prayers outside the 5 daily prayers.
The prayer is very similar to the three raka’āt Maghrib prayer. After reciting Fātiḥah and another sūrahin the third rakʿah, say the takbir and raise your hands to your ears as you would at the beginning of prayer. Lower them back down and hold them as they were before and then recite the qunūt duʿāʾ. Then complete the third rak’ah as normal (by going into rukūʿ and so on). It is recommended that, in the first rakʿah recite Sūrah al-Aʿlā, al-Kāfirūn in the second, and al-Ikhlāṣ in the third, though you may recite other sūrahs if you’d like.
If you do not have the qunūt duʿāʾ memorized yet, the simplest thing you can say is, “subḥān-Allāh”, (Allāh is above all imperfection) three times instead. You should try and memorize the qunūt du’ā’ in the meantime.
If you forget to perform the qunūt duʿāʾ, it is considered to be a correctable mistake and may be compensated with two additional sajdahs at the end of the prayer.
If someone forgot to say the qunūt before going into rukūʿ, they don’t make it up by saying it after rukūʿ. Instead, it is made up by the two sajdah of forgetfulness.