Witr and du‘a al-qunut
Witr is wajib in the Hanafi school. Its time is from after Isha until true dawn; for someone sure of waking in the last part of the night, praying it after tahajjud is best.
How to pray it (three rak‘ahs, one salam)
- Pray two rak‘ahs as usual, sit for the tashahhud and stand up.
- In the third rak‘ah, after Al-Fatihah and a surah, say “Allahu akbar” raising the hands to the ears, and fold them again.
- Recite du‘a al-qunut, then bow and prostrate, and in the final sitting recite the tashahhud, salawat and du‘a and give salam.
Du‘a al-qunut
اللّٰهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْتَعِينُكَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ، وَنُؤْمِنُ بِكَ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْكَ، وَنُثْنِي عَلَيْكَ الْخَيْرَ، وَنَشْكُرُكَ وَلَا نَكْفُرُكَ، وَنَخْلَعُ وَنَتْرُكُ مَنْ يَفْجُرُكَ، اللّٰهُمَّ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ، وَلَكَ نُصَلِّي وَنَسْجُدُ، وَإِلَيْكَ نَسْعَى وَنَحْفِدُ، وَنَرْجُو رَحْمَتَكَ، وَنَخْشَى عَذَابَكَ، إِنَّ عَذَابَكَ بِالْكُفَّارِ مُلْحِقٌAllahumma inna nasta‘inuka wa nastaghfiruka, wa nu’minu bika wa natawakkalu ‘alaika, wa nuthni ‘alaikal-khair, wa nashkuruka wa la nakfuruk, wa nakhla‘u wa natruku man yafjuruk. Allahumma iyyaka na‘budu, wa laka nusalli wa nasjudu, wa ilaika nas‘a wa nahfidu, wa narju rahmataka wa nakhsha ‘adhabaka, inna ‘adhabaka bil-kuffari mulhiqO Allah, we seek Your help and Your forgiveness, we believe in You and rely on You, we praise You with all good, we thank You and are not ungrateful, and we cast off and leave whoever disobeys You. O Allah, You alone we worship, to You we pray and prostrate, to You we hasten and strive; we hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment — surely Your punishment will overtake the disbelievers.
Until you have memorised it, you may recite “Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanah…”
وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةًۭ وَفِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةًۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ ٢٠١But among them is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."Surah Al-Baqarah 2:201
or “Allahummaghfir li” three times. The Shafi‘i and other schools use a different qunut (“Allahummahdini fiman hadait…”), recited after ruku‘.