We fasted with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
during Ramadan, but he did not make us get up at night for
prayer at any time during the month till seven nights
remained; then he made us get up for prayer till a third
of the night had passed. When the sixth remaining night
came, he did not make us get up for prayer. When the fifth
remaining night came, he made us stand in prayer till a
half of the night had gone.
So I said: Apostle of Allah, I wish you had led us in
supererogatory prayers during the whole of tonight.
He said: When a man prays with an imam till he goes he
is reckoned as having spent a whole night in prayer. On
the fourth remaining night he did not make us get up. When
the third remaining night came, he gathered his family,
his wives, and the people and prayed with us till we were
afraid we should miss the falah (success).
I said: What is falah? He said: The meal before
daybreak. Then he did not make us get up for prayer during
the remainder of the month.
I was present at the gathering of Banu Salamah, and I
was the youngest of them.
They (the people) said: Who will ask the Apostle of
Allah (peace_be_upon_him) for us about Laylat al-Qadr?
That was the twenty-first of Ramadan. I went out and said
the sunset prayer along with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).
I then stood at the door of his house.
He passed by me and said: Come in. I entered (the
house) and dinner was brought for him. I was prevented
from taking food as it was scanty.
When he finished his dinner, he said to me: Give me my
shoes. He then stood up and I also stood up with him. He
said: Perhaps you have some business with me.
I said: Yes. Some people of Banu Salamah have sent me
to you to ask you about Laylat al-Qadr. He asked: Which
night: Is it tonight?
I said: Twenty-second. He said: This is the very night.
He then withdrew and said: Or the following night,
referring to the twenty-third night.
I said to the Apostle of Allah: I have a place in the
desert where I live and in which I pray, with the praise
of Allah; but give me command about a night when I come to
this mosque.
He replied: Come on the twenty third night.
I (a sub-narrator, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim) said to his
(Abdullah ibn Unays's) son: How would your father act?
He replied: He used to enter the mosque when he had
offered the afternoon prayer, and did not leave it for any
purpose till he prayed the morning prayer. Then when he
had prayed the morning prayer, he found his riding beast
at the door of the mosque, mounted it and got back to his
desert.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Seek it (laylat
al-Qadr) in the last ten days of Ramadan. Seek it on the
ninth, seventh and fifth night. I (AbuNadrah) said: You
know counting better than us, AbuSa'id. He said: Yes. I
asked: What do you mean by the ninth, seventh and fifth
night? He said: When the twenty-first night passes, the
night which follows it is the night; when the twenty-third
night passes, the night which follows it is the seventh;
when the twenty-fifth passes, the night which follows it
is the fifth.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said to us:
Seek it (laylat al-Qadr) on the seventeenth night of
Ramadan, and on the twenty first night, and on the
twenty-third night. He then kept silence.
Yazid ibn Abdullah said that Abdullah ibn Amr asked the
Prophet (peace_be_upon_him): In how many days should I
complete the recitation of the whole Qur'an, Apostle of
Allah?
He replied: In one month.
He said: I am more energetic to complete it in a period
less than this. He kept on repeating these words and
lessening the period until he said: Complete its
recitation in seven days.
He again said: I am more energetic to complete it in a
period less than this.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: He who finishes
the recitation of the Qur'an in less than three days does
not understand it.
We came upon the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
in a deputation of Thaqif. The signatories of the pact
came to al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah as his guests. The Apostle
of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) made Banu-Malik stay in a
tent of his.
Musaddad's version says: He was in the deputation of
Thaqif which came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).
He used to visit and have a talk with us every day after
the night prayer.
The version of AbuSa'id says: He remained standing for
such a long time (talking to us) that he put his weight
sometimes on one leg and sometimes on the other due to his
long stay. He mostly told us how his people, the Quraysh,
behaved with him.
He would say: We were not equal; we were weak and
degraded at Mecca (according to Musaddad's version). When
we came over to Medina the fighting began between us;
sometimes we overcome them and at other times they
overcome us. One night he came late and did not come at
the time he used to come.
We asked him: You came late tonight? He said: I could
not recite the fixed part of the Qur'an that I used to
recite every day. I disliked to come till I had completed
it.
Aws said: I asked the companions of the Apostle of
Allah (peace_be_upon_him): How do you divide the Qur'an
for daily recitation? They said: Three surahs, five surahs,
eleven surahs, thirteen surahs' mufassal surahs.
Wahb ibn Munabbih said: Abdullah ibn Amr asked the
Prophet (peace_be_upon_him); In how many days should one
complete the recitation of the Qur'an? He said: In forty
days. He then said: In one month. He again said: In twenty
days. He then said: In fifteen days. He then said: In ten
days. Finally he said: In seven days.
Alqamah and al-Aswad said: A man came to Ibn Mas'ud. He
said: I recite the mufassal surahs in one rak'ah. You
might recite it quickly as one recites verse (poetry)
quickly, or as the dried dates fall down (from the tree).
But the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) used to recite two
equal surahs in one rak'ah; he would recite (for instance)
surahs an-Najm (53) and ar-Rahman (55) in one rak'ah,
surahs Iqtarabat (54) and al-Haqqah (69) in one rak'ah,
surahs at-Tur (52) and adh-Dhariyat (51) in one rak'ah,
surahs al-Waqi'ah (56) and Nun (68) in one rak'ah, surahs
al-Ma'arij (70) and an-Nazi'at (79) in one rak'ah, surahs
al-Mutaffifin (83) and Abasa (80) in one rak'ah, surahs
al-Muddaththir (74) and al-Muzzammil (73) in one rak'ah,
surahs al-Insan (76) and al-Qiyamah (75) in one rak'ah,
surahs an-Naba' (78) and al-Mursalat (77) in one rak'ah,
and surahs ad-Dukhan (44) and at-Takwir (81) in one rak'ah.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone prays
at night reciting regularly ten verses, he will not be
recorded among the negligent; if anyone prays at night and
recites a hundred verses, he will be recorded among those
who are obedient to Allah; and if anyone prays at night
reciting one thousand verses, he will be recorded among
those who receive huge rewards.
A man came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
and said: Teach me to read the Qur'an, Apostle of Allah.
He said: Read three surahs which begin with A.L.R. He
said: My age is advanced, my mind has become dull (i.e.
memory has grown weak), and my tongue has grown heavy). So
he said: Then read three surahs which begin with H.M. He
repeated the same words. So he said: Read three surahs
which begin with the "Glorification of Allah". But he
repeated the same excuse. The man then said: Teach me a
comprehensive surah, Apostle of Allah. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him)
taught him Surah (99). "When the Earth is shaken with her
earthquake". When he finished it, the man said: By Him Who
sent you with truth, I shall never add anything to it.
Then man then went away.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said twice: The man
received salvation.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: A surah of the
Qur'an containing thirty verses will intercede its reader
till he will be forgiven. That is: "Blessed is He in Whose
Hand is the sovereignty" (Surah 67).