Istikhara (seeking guidance in decisions)

When. Facing a decision where both options are permissible and you genuinely do not know which is better — a job, a marriage, a move. It is performed after two units of voluntary prayer, and the supplication follows the prayer rather than replacing it.

The words. The three opening verbs are built on a pattern that means "to seek from": astakhiruka — I seek from You the better of two things, from khayr; astaqdiruka — I seek from You the capacity, from qudrah; as'aluka — I ask You. Each verb is immediately paired with the divine attribute it draws on: guidance by Your knowledge, ability by Your power, favour from Your bounty. The structure repeats three times, and each time the reason the request is possible is stated in the same breath as the request.

The full text continues past what is printed here, naming the specific matter and asking that it be brought about and made blessed if it is good, and turned away if it is not.

What it is not asking for. Istikhara is not a request to be shown the future, and the words never ask to be told anything. They ask for the better outcome to be arranged and the worse one to be withdrawn.

On dreams. A great many people expect a dream afterwards, and the supplication says nothing about dreams. It is not the point of the practice, and nothing in the words waits on one.

Alongside it. Consultation with people who know the matter is the ordinary companion of istikhara, not an alternative to it.