Chapter: The virtue of Lailat Al-Qadr and the Exhortation to seek it; When it is and the most likely times to seek it

I see that your dreams agree regarding the last week; so he who wants to seek it should seek it in the last week (during the night).

Seek Lailat-ul-Qadr in the last week (of Ramadan).

I see that your dreams agree regarding the last ten (nights of Ramadan). So seek it on an odd number (of these ten nights).

I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: So far as Lailat-ul-Qadr is concerned. some persons among you have seen it (in a dream) in the first week and some persons among you have been shown that it is in the last week; so seek it in the last ten (nights).

Seek it (Lailat-ul-Qadr) in the last (ten nights). If one among you shows slackness and weakness (in the earlier part of Ramadan), it should not be allowed to prevail upon him in the last week.

He who is anxious to seek it (Lailat-ul-Qadr) should seek it in the last ten (nights of Ramadan).

Seek the time of Lailat-ul-Qadr in the last (ten nights), or he said: in the last nine (nights).

I was shown Lailat-ul-Qadr; then some members of my family awoke me up, then I was caused to forget it. So seek it in the last week. Harmala said: (The Prophet did not say:" I was made to forget," but he stated):" But I forgot it."

I used to devote myself (observe i'tikaf) during these ten (nights). Then I started devoting myself in the last ten (nights). And he who desires to observe i'tikaf along with me should spend the night) at his place of i'tikaf. And I saw this night (Lailat-ul-Qadr) but I forgot it (the exact night) ; so seek it;In the last ten nights on odd numbers. I saw (the glimpses of that dream) that I was prostrating in water and mud. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: It rained on the twenty-first night and the water dripped (from the roof) of the mosque at the place where the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed prayer. I looked at him and as he completed the dawn prayer, (I found) his face was wet with mud and water.

" That he adhered to his place of i'tikaf and his forehead was besmeared with mud and water."

I observed i'tikaf in the first ten (nights and days) in order to seek that night (Lailat-ul-Qadr). I then observed i'tikaf in the middle ten days. Then (an angel) was sent to me and I was told that this (night) is among the last ten (nights). He who among you likes to observe i'tikaf should do so; and the people observed it along with him, and he (the Holy Prophet) said: That (Lailat-ul-Qadr) was shown to me on an odd (night) and I (saw in the dream) that I was prostrating in the morning in clay and water. So in the morning of the twenty-first night when he (the Holy Prophet) got up for dawn (prayer). there was a rainfall and the mosque dripped, and I saw clay and water. When he came out after completing the morning prayer (I saw) that his forehead and the tip of his nose had (traces) of clay and water, and that was the twenty-first night among the last ten (nights).

'We discussed amongst ourselves Lailat-ul-Qadr. I came to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) who was a friend of mine and said to him: Would you not go with us to the garden of date trees? He went out with a cloak over him. I said to him: Did you hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) making mention of Lailat-ul-Qadr? He said: Yes, (and added) we were observing i'tikaf with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the middle ten days of Ramadan, and came out on the morning of the twentieth and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) addressed us and said: I was shown Lailat-ul-Qadr, but I forgot (the exact night) or I was caused to forget it, so seek it in the last ten odd (nights), and I was shown that I was prostrating in water and clay. So he who wanted to observe i'tikaf with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) should return (to the place of i'tikaf). He (Abu Sa'id al-Khudri) said: And we returned and did not find any patch of cloud in the sky. Then the cloud gathered and there was (so heavy) a downpour that the roof of the mosque which was made of the branches of date-palms began to drip. Then there was prayer and I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prostrating in water and clay till I saw the traces of clay on his forehead.

I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) after he had completed (the prayer) and there was a trace of clay on his forehead and tip (of the nose).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed i'tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan to seek Lailat-ul-Qadr before it was made manifest to him. When (these nights) were over, he commanded to strike the tent. Then it was made manifest to him that (Lailat-ul-Qadr) was in the last ten nights (of Ramadan), and commanded to pitch the tent (again). He then came to the people and said: O people, Lailat-ul-Qadr was made manifest to me and I came out to inform you about it that two persons came contending with each other and there was a devil along with them and I forgot it. So seek it in the last ten nights of Ramadan. Seek it on the ninth, on the seventh and on the fifth. I (one of the narrators) said: Abu Sa'id, you know more than us about numbers. He said: Yes, indeed we have better right than you. I said: What is this ninth, seventh, and fifth? He said: When twenty-one (nights are over) and the twenty-second begins, it is the ninth, and when twenty-three (nights) are over, that which follows (the last night) is the seventh, and when twenty-five nights are over, what follows it is fifth. Ibn Khallad said: Instead of the word Yahliqan (contending), he said Yakhtasiman, (they are disputing).

I was shown Lailat-ul-Qadr; then I was made to forget it, and saw that I was prostrating in water and clay in the morning of that (night). He (the narrator) said: There was a downpour on the twenty-third night and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led us in prayer, and as he went back, there was a trace of water and clay on his forehead and on his nose. He (the narrator) said: 'Abdullah b. Unais used to say that it was the twenty-third (night).

Look for (and in the words of Waki, seek) Lailat-ul-Qadr in the last ten nights of Ramadan.

I thu asked Ubayy b. Ka'b (Allah be pleased with him): Your brother (in faith) Ibn Mas'ud says: He who stands (for the night prayer) throughout the year would find Lailat-ul-Qadr, whereupon he said: May Allah have mercy upon him; (he said these words) with the intention that people might not rely only (on one night), whereas he knew that it (Lailat-ul-Qadr) is in the month of Ramadan and it is the twenty-seventh night. He then took oath (without making any exception, i. e. without saying In sha Allah) that it was the twenty-seventh night. I said to him: Abu Mundhir, on what ground do you say that? Thereupon he said: By the indication or by the sign which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave us, and that is that on that day (the sun) would rise without having any ray in it.

By Allah, I know well about it. Shu'ba said: To the best of my knowledge it was the twenty-seventh night for which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to stand for prayer. Shu'ba doubted these words: That it was the night for which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to stand for prayer. And (he further) said: This was narrated to me by a friend of mine from him (the Holy Prophet).

We were talking about Lailat-ul-Qadr in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he said: He who amongst you remembers (the night) when the moon arose and it was like a piece of plate (at the fag end of the month in a state of waning).