Sayyiduna Khalid bin Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): I am afraid while sleeping. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Recite this «أَعُوذُ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللّٰهِ التَّامَّةِ، مِنْ غَضَبِهِ وَعِقَابِهِ، وَشَرِّ عِبَادِهِ، وَمِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَأَنْ يَحْضُرُونِ» I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from His anger and His punishment, and from the evil of His servants, and from the whisperings of devils, and from their coming near me."

It is narrated from Yahya bin Saeed that on the night when the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was taken on the Night Journey (Mi'raj), a giant appeared, as if he had a flame of fire in one of his hands. Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, looked, he would see him coming towards him. Jibreel (Gabriel), peace be upon him, said: "Shall I teach you some words, so that if you say them, his flame will be extinguished?" The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Why not, teach me." Jibreel, peace be upon him, said: "Say! «‏‏‏‏أَعُوذُ بِوَجْهِ اللّٰهِ الْكَرِيمِ....» That is: I seek refuge in the Face (i.e., the Essence) of Allah, the Most Mighty, and in His perfect words, which neither the righteous nor the wicked can surpass (i.e., none has more knowledge than them), from the evil of what descends from the sky, and what ascends to it, and from the evil of what He has created in the earth, and what comes out of it, and from the trials of night and day, and from the calamities of night and day, and from sudden misfortunes, except the misfortune that brings good, O Most Merciful."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man from the tribe of Aslam said: "I did not sleep at night." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Why, for what reason?" He replied: "A scorpion stung me." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you had said this in the evening «أَعُوذُ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللّٰهِ التَّامَّاتِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ» that is: I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created, then the scorpion would not have harmed you."

It is narrated from Hazrat Qa’qa’ bin Hakim that Ka’b al-Ahbar (who was a great scholar among the Jews and then became a Muslim) said: If I did not recite a few words, the Jews (by doing magic) would have turned me into a donkey. People asked: What are those words? Ka’b said: «أَعُوذُ بِوَجْهِ اللّٰهِ الْعَظِيمِ......» That is:“I seek refuge in the Face (i.e., the Essence) of Allah, Who is Most Great—there is nothing greater in greatness than Him—and in the complete words of Allah, which neither the righteous nor the wicked can surpass (i.e., none has more knowledge than them), and in all the beautiful names of Allah, those which I know and those which I do not know, from the evil of that which He has created, originated, and spread.”