This short guide collects six traditional, quick-response supplications and practical ritual steps—writing certain Qur’anic verses on plain paper with rosewater and saffron, placing them near the child, recommended recitations
The following verses (and instructions) should be written with rosewater and saffron and hung on the child; by God’s permission and will, the crying and restlessness will be relieved.
One way to calm our children is prayer. Prayer doesn’t only soothe adults — it can have a strong effect on a child, too. If you have an unsettled child, try the vetted supplications below.
Prayer to soothe the child:
Write the following verse (and the subsequent instructions) on plain, unlined paper, fold it, place it in green cloth, and hang it on the child.
(Arabic excerpt from Sūrat al-Kahf, v.11 and linked lines)
After that, write the Muʿawwidhatayn (Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat an-Nās).
(Instruction: write on unlined paper, fold, put in green cloth, hang on the child.)
Before giving the specific prayer for poor sleep, note: crying and sleeplessness have many causes and should be addressed according to the cause. Sometimes crying signals physical problems (colic, earache, etc.) — in those cases see a doctor.
Other times a newborn’s crying and restlessness are attributed in tradition to disturbances from unseen beings; infants are often considered more sensitive to such things, and jinn or “amous” of a place may try to bother newborns. The article then gives a ritual remedy (below).
Test: Near maghrib (sunset) place the infant by a TV or radio, turn the volume up slightly, and watch carefully when the adhān (call to prayer) begins. If the child suddenly jumps or has a shock-like reaction at the start of the adhān, tradition interprets this as a sign of such a disturbance.
Remedy (procedure): On Tuesday, Thursday or Friday at sunrise, with wudu (ablution) and full conviction, facing the qibla, write the following on plain white unlined paper using rosewater and saffron, then place it under the child’s head:
Recite 6 times: Aʿūdhu billāhi mina al-shayṭān al-rajīm (I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan)
Recite 3 times: Bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful)
Once: Ayat al-Kursī (the Throne Verse)
Four times: Sūrat al-Fātiḥah
Once: Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ (Qul huwallāhu aḥad)
Four times: Lā ilāha illā llāh, Muḥammad rasūl Allāh (There is no god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God)
The article also recommends that these same verses, together with the ḥirz ṣaghīr (a small protective charm of Abū Dujānah referenced in tradition), be written and placed permanently under the newborn’s head for ongoing protection, God willing.
Write this verse (provided in Arabic in the original) on a plain white paper and place it inside the child’s pillow:
(Arabic phrase included — translated meaning:) “And they ask you about the mountains: say, ‘My Lord will scatter them as dust — He will leave them a level plain where you will not see any crookedness in them. There is no might nor power except by God, the Exalted, the Great.’”
(The article recommends writing that phrase and placing it inside the pillow.)
To drive away the crying, on Friday write Sūrat ar-Raʿd (the chapter ar-Raʿd) on plain unlined paper with sincere intention and tie it to the child’s cradle. According to the article, this will stop the child’s crying.
Procedure: Perform wudu, then recite Ayat al-Kursī three times and blow onto yourself, the surroundings and a piece of paper. Under the written prayer, be sure to add the “signature” of the amulet/taʿwīdh (i.e., the sign of the written charm). Below that, write the name of the child and the words “born of (mother’s name).”
Again: write the specified holy verses with rosewater and saffron and hang them on the child; by God’s permission and will, the crying and restlessness will be removed.
The main verses recommended for writing (restated):
“When the youths took refuge in the cave…” — Sūrat al-Kahf, verse 11 (and the connected lines cited in the article).
Then write the Muʿawwidhatayn (Sūrat al-Falaq and Sūrat an-Nās).
