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In another narrative it is said that "the ten nights" are interpreted to be the pure Imams from al-Hasan to al-Hasan. [552] This is one of the degrees of "the night of qadr " to which Imam Musa ibn Ja''far referred, testifying that "the night of qadr" was the entire Muhammadan period.

In Al-Burhan Exegesis there is a narrative from Imam al-Baqir (AS). Being a noble hadith referring to several pieces of information, disclosing important secrets, we, owing to its blessedness, relate it in full:

The author (may Allah have mercy upon him), quoting Shaykh Abu Ja''far at-Tusi, from his men, from Abdullah ibn Ajlan as-Sakuni, said: " I heard Abu Jafar (AS) say: The house of ''Ali and Fatimah is the room of the Messenger of Allah (SA), and the roof of their house is the Arsh of the Lord of the worlds. And at the bottom of their house there is an uncovered opening to the Arsh, the mi''raj of revelation; and the angels bring down revelation upon them in the morning and in the evening and every hour and twinkle of an eye. The angels are in ceaseless groups, some descending and some ascending. And Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, disclosed to Ibrahim the heavens till he saw the Arsh and He increased his seeing power. And Allah increased the seeing power of Muhammad, ''Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (AS). They used to see the Arsh and they found no roof over their houses except the Arsh.

Their houses were roofed with the Arsh of the Beneficent, and the ascensions of the angels and the Spirit in them, with the permission of their Lord, for every affair in peace. ''I said: "for every affair''." Ile said: In every affair.'' I said: Is that revelation?'' He said: ''Yes"''. [553]

Contemplating this noble hadith will open doors of knowledge in the face of the deserving people and discloses parts of the truth of guardianship and of the hidden inside of "the night of qadr".

The third matter: Know that as "the night of qadr" has a truth and an inside, as it has been mentioned, it also has a form and an appearance, or even appearances in the world of nature. But as appearances can differ in respect of their shortcomings and perfections, form the narratives and hadiths about specifying "the night of qadr" can be gathered that all the noble nights specified in those narratives are of the appearances of "the night of qadr", except that they differ from one another in respect of their honour and perfection of appearance, while that noble night, which is the full appearance of "the night of qadr", the night of the complete joining [wasi] and the perfect attainment [wusul] of the Last Prophet, is hidden in the whole year, in the blessed month of Ramadan, in its last ten (nights) or in the "three nights". The narratives of the Elite [khassah] and the public [''ammah] also differ. The Elite narrate, with uncertainty, that it is on the nights of the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third (of Ramadan), and sometimes they waver between the night of the twenty-first and the twenty-third.

Shihab ibn Abd Rabbih says: I asked Imam Ja''far as-Sadiq (AS) to tell me about "the night of qadr". He said: "the night of the twenty-first and the night of the twenty-third." [554]

''Abdul Wahid ibn al-Mukhtar al-Ansari says: "I asked Imam al-Baqir (AS) about the night of qadr''. He said: ''it is on two nights: the night of the twenty-third and the night of the twenty-first: I said: Name only one of them.'' He said: What if you do something on the two nights of which one is the night of qadr?"'' [555]

Hassan ibn Abu ''Ali says: "I asked Imam as-Sadiq (AS) about the night of qadr'' He said: "Get it on the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third." [555a]

The devotee and pious "Sayyid" (may Allah be pleased with him) in Iqbal says: "Know that it is the night of the twenty-third of the month of Ramadan. There are explicit narratives that it is the night of qadr'' by revelation and declaration. Of that I relate , on my authority up to Sufyan ibn as-Sit (or as-Simt) who said: "I asked Imam Ja''far as-Sadiq (AS.) to tell me which was the night of qadr'' exactly." He said: "The night of the twenty-third". Another is to narrate, on my authority up to Zurarah, quoting ''Abdul Wahid ibn al-Mukhtar al-Ansari, who said: "I asked Imam al-Baqir (AS) about the night of qadrl. He said: "By Allah I tell you with no ambiguity, it is the first night of the last seven nights." Zurarah was further quoted to have said that the month which the Imam mentioned had twenty-nine days. [556] After that other narratives are related to the effect that "the night of qadr" is the night of the twenty-third (of Ramadan), such as the case of Juhani, [557] which is known.

A Gnostic Note

As it has been said in respect of the two previously explained blessed surahs, it is more obvious that the bismillah of each surah belongs to it. Therefore, in the blessed surah of al-Qadr it means: "We revealed the noble Qur''anic trurh, the Sacred Divine Grace [latifah], in the Name of Allah, which is the Collective Truth of the Names'' and the Greatest Name of the Lord, individuated by the absolute mercy of Rahman and Rahim, on the Muhammadan night of qadr." That is, the appearance of the Qur''an follows the "Collective appearance" [zuhur-i jam i] of the Divinity and the "Contraction" [qabd] and "Expansion" [bast] of "Mercifulness" [rahimiyat) and "Beneficence" [rahmaniyat]. Rather , the truth of the Qur''an is the state of the appearance of the Greatest Name of Allah through the appearance of the "Beneficence" and the "Mercifulness", and is the "collector of the union and distinctness" [jami''-i jam'' u tafsil). Consequently, this noble Book is "Qur''an" and "Furqan" (distinguisher), similar to the spirituality of the Seal of the Prophets and his sacred state of guardianship, which are also "Qur''an" and "Furqan" and the state of the "oneness of collectivity and distinctness" [ahadiyat-i jam a tafsil]

So, it seems that the Sacred Essence, according to this possibility, says: "We have-with the manifestation of the state of the Greatest Name, which is the state of the "Oneness of Collectivity and Distinctness" [ahadiyat-i jam u tafsil], with the appearance of the mercy of the Beneficent and the Merciful -revealed the Qur''an on the Muhammadan night of qadr. And as in the world of distinction [farq], or rather, the distinction of distinction, there was a distinction [furqaniyat] between the two "Qur''ans", i.e., the revealed and written Qur''an, and the Qur''an revealed to him, that is, the "Divine Book" and the "Muhammadan truth", we united between the two Qur''ans and joined the two Furqans in the night of union [wisal], and on this consideration, this night was called the night of qadr'', but its actual meritorious status, as it is, cannot be recognized by anybody except by the very Seal of the Prophets (SA), who is the owner of the night of qadr'' in person, as well as his infallible successors, who are its owner, too, through him." Completion Some Narratives Concerning the Merits of "the Night of Qadr"

Among them are those narrated by the knower of Allah, Sayyid ibn Tawus (may Allah be pleased with him) in his noble Book Iqbalul Amal. He says: "I found in the book, called Yawaqit, by Abul Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Harawi, some narratives on the merits of "the night of qadr". Then he quotes from it a narrative from the Messenger of Allah (SA) as to have said: "Moses said: O Allah! I desire Your proximity''. Allah said: "My proximity is for the one who keeps awake on the night of qadr''. He said: O Allah! I wish for your mercy.'' Allah said: My mercy is for the one who shows mercy to the poor on the night of qadr''. He said: O Allah! I want to cross the Sirat [the (Right) Path]''. He said: That is for the one who gives out a sadaqah on the night of qadr''. He said: O Allah''. I want of the trees and fruits of Paradise''. Allah said: They are for the one who glorifies (Me) on the night of qadr''. He said: I want to be delivered''. Allah said: From the Fire''" Yes,'' he said. Allah said: It is for the one who asks forgiveness on the night of qadr''. He said: O Allah! I ask for Your pleasure.'' Allah said: I would be pleased with the one who performs two rakahs of salat on the night of qadr".

The same book, quoting the Messenger of Allah (SA), also says: "The doors of the heaven are opened on the night of qadr. No servant may perform the salat on it unless Allah, the Exalted, writes down for him, for every sajdah a tree in Paradise, such that if a horseman rides under its shadow for a hundred years he will not finish it, for every rakah (or ruku) a house, in Paradise, made of quartzes, rubbies, chrysolites and pearls, for every ayah a paradisiac crown, for every glorifying one of the precious birds, for every sitting one of the paradisiac degrees, for every tashahhud a paradasiac room and for every taslim a garment from paradise. And when the column of dawn bursts out, Allah will grant him (in Paradise) sociable women (wives) whose breasts bulge out from behind the dress, educated and good-behaving maids, eternal boys, noble birds, fragrant flowers, flowing rivers, pleasing graces, gifts, presents, coats of honour, wonders and whatever the heart desires and pleases the eye, in which you will eternally live."

Quoting Imam al-Baqir (AS), the same book says: "Whoever lives the night of qadr'' awake, his sins will be forgiven, even if as many as the stars of the sky, and as heavy as the mountains or the weight of the seas." [558] The narratives about its merits are too many to be included in these papers.

His saying: "And how do you know what the night of qadr is!" is a construction intended to denote honouring, tributing and paying homage to the greatness of the subject and the truth, especially when considering the addresser and the addressee. Although the addresser is Allah, the Exalted, and the addressee is the Messenger of Allah (SA), yet, the subject is sometimes so glorious that it is impossible to contain it with the construction of words and expressions. It is as if He says: You know not how great the truth of the night of qadr is! It cannot be explained in arranged words and letters, as they are incapable of containing it. Therefore, He just used "How" [ma] to denote that greatness, trying not to describe it, only saying that "the night of qadr is better than a thousand months", that is, He introduces it by referring to its characteristics and effects, since telling its truth is not possible. Hence, one may well guess that the truth of the night of qadr and its inside are different from its external form, though its external form is great and important, too, but not to the extent of addressing the Messenger of Allah, the absolute guardian and the informed of all worlds, in this way.

If you say: On the basis of the said possibility that the inside of "the night of qadr" is the very truth and constitution of the Messenger of Allah (SA), in which the sun of truth, in all its affairs, is hidden, then the objection will be higher, because it will not be possible to tell him: "How do you know what the night of qadr'', which is your own visible form, is?"

I will say: This subject has a secret. This delicate point has an inner meaning "for him who has heart or gives ear and is a witness". [559] Know, dear, that in the inside of the real "night of qadr", i.e., the constitution and the visible form, or the immutable essence of Muhammad [ayn-i thabit-i muhammadi] (SA), there is manifested the Greatest Name and the Divine Collective Oneness. Therefore, as long as the travelling-to-Allah servant, that is, the Sealing Messenger (SA), is still inside his own veil, he will not be able to witness that inside and truth, as the same was said about Moses, the son of Imran, (AS) in the Glorious Qur''an: "You will never see Me", [560] despite the fact that Moses witnessed the manifestation in Essence or in Attributes, as in: "When his Lord manifested (His glory) to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon", [561] or in the great noble invocation of simat, as is quite obvious. There is also the note that: "O Moses, as long as you are in your Musawiyan veil and in your concealment [ihtijab], you will have no chance of witnessing. Witnessing the Beauty of the Beautiful is possible for the one who has come out of himself, because having come out of himself, he would see with the Haqq''s eye, and the Haqq''s eye would be seeing the Haqq. So, the manifestation of the Greatest Name, which is the perfect form of "the night of qadr ", cannot be seen through one''s concealment [ihtijab]. Therefore, this expression is, according to the mentioned verification, correct and fitting.

Notes:

[552]. Al-Burhan Exegesis vol. 4, p. 457, "Surah al-Fajr", hadith 1.

[553]. Al-Burhan Exegesis vol. 4, p. 487, "Surah al-Qadr", hadith 25.

[554]. Majma ul Bayan, vol. 10, p. 519. Nuruth-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, P. 628, "Surah al-Qadr", hadith 71.

[555]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 95, p. 149.

[555a]. Majma''ul Bayan, vol. 10, p. 519. Wasa''ilush-Shiah, vol. 7, p. 263, "Book of Fasting", ch. 32, hadith 21.

[556]. Iqbalul Amal, p. 206.

[557]. Ibid., p. 207.

[558]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 98, p. 168.

[559]. Surah Qaf: 37.

[560]. Surah al-A''raf: 143.

[561]. Ibid.