Sūrah al-Qadr (The Night of Decree) 97

His saying, the Almighty: "Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree."

19424 - Abū Zurʿah narrated to us, Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā narrated to us, Muslim—meaning Ibn Khālid—informed me, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: That the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned a man from the Children of Israel who wore his armor [engaged in struggle] in the way of Allah for a thousand months. He said: The Muslims were amazed by that. He said: So Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sent down: "Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what the Night of Decree is? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months"—[the duration] that man wore the armor in the way of Allah for a thousand months.

19425 - On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās regarding His saying: "Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree," he said: The Qurʾān was sent down in the Night of Decree all at once from the Reminder (al-Dhikr) which is with the Lord of Might, until it was placed in the House of Might (Bayt al-ʿIzzah) in the lowest heaven. Then, Gabriel would begin to descend upon Muḥammad in [the cave of] Ḥirāʾ with the answers to the words and deeds of the servants.

19426 - Yūnus informed us, Ibn Wahb informed us, Maslamah b. ʿAlī narrated to me, from ʿAlī b. ʿUrwah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned one day four men from the Children of Israel who worshipped Allah for eighty years, not disobeying Him for the blinking of an eye. He mentioned Ayyūb (Job), Zakarīyā (Zechariah), Ḥizqīl b. al-ʿAjūz (Ezekiel), and Yūshaʿ b. Nūn (Joshua). He said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were amazed by that. Then Gabriel came to him and said: O Muḥammad, your nation has been amazed by the worship of these men for eighty years, never disobeying Him for the blinking of an eye, yet Allah has sent down something better than that. He then recited to him: "Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what the Night of Decree is? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months." This is more excellent than what you and your nation were amazed by. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was pleased by that, and the people with him.

19427 - On the authority of Mujāhid regarding "Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree," he said: The Night of Decree (laylat al-ḥukm).

19428 - My father narrated to us, ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Ziyād al-Qaṭawānī narrated to us, Sayyār b. Hātim narrated to us, Mūsā b. Saʿīd—meaning al-Rasabī—narrated to us, from Hilāl Abū Jabalah, from Abū ʿAbd al-Salām, from his father, from Kaʿb, that he said: The Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary (Sidrat al-Muntahā) is at the edge of the seventh heaven, adjacent to Paradise. It is on the boundary between the atmosphere of the world and the atmosphere of the Hereafter. Its upper part is in Paradise, and its roots and branches are from beneath the Throne. There are angels upon it, the number of whom none knows except Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. They worship Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, upon its branches; in every place the size of a hair upon it is an angel. The station of Gabriel (peace be upon him) is in its midst. Allah calls out to Gabriel to descend on every Night of Decree with the angels who dwell in the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, and there is no angel among them but that he has been granted compassion and mercy for the believers. They descend upon Gabriel on the Night of Decree when the sun sets, so there does not remain a single plot of ground on the Night of Decree but that there is an angel upon it, either prostrating or standing, supplicating for the believing men and women, unless it is a church, a synagogue, a house of fire, an idol, some of your places where you throw refuse, a house containing a drunkard, a house containing intoxicants, a house containing a set-up idol, a house with a hanging bell, a urinal, or a place like the courtyard of a house. They continue throughout that night supplicating for the believing men and women. Gabriel does not leave any of the believers without shaking his hand, and the sign of that is one whose skin shivers, his heart softens, and his eyes shed tears; for that is from the handshaking of Gabriel.