that particular year. This is possible, because the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, observed iʿtikāf throughout all the last ten nights until he died. Thus, his statement, “I see that your dreams have coincided,” may mean that, in that specific year, Laylat al-Qadr occurred only in the last seven nights. It does not mean that in every future Ramadan it will occur in the last seven nights; rather, it remains within all of the last ten nights.

The Fourth Discussion: Does Laylat al-Qadr fall on one fixed night every year, or does it move?

The scholars differ concerning this.

The correct view is that it moves: one year it may be the twenty-first night, another year the twenty-ninth night, another year the twenty-fifth night, and another year the twenty-fourth night, and so on. For the hadiths reported on the matter cannot be reconciled except on this view. However, the night most likely to be Laylat al-Qadr is the twenty-seventh night, though it is not fixed to that night, as some people imagine. Based on this assumption, they exert themselves greatly on that night and become lax on the other nights.

The wisdom behind its moving is that, if it were on a fixed night, the lazy person would pray at night only on that particular night. But when it moves, and every night may possibly be Laylat al-Qadr, a person prays throughout all ten nights. Another wisdom in this is that it distinguishes the energetic person who seeks it from the lazy one.

The Fifth Discussion: Why it is called Laylat al-Qadr.

It has been said that it is so called because what will occur during that year is decreed on it, and what will take place in that year is written down. This is part of Allah’s wisdom and a manifestation of the perfection of His making and creation. Thus, there is: