582 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: “When the last ten nights of Ramadan began, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) would tighten his waist-wrapper, spend the night in worship, and wake his family.” Agreed upon (1).
—
Vocabulary of the hadith:
• miʾzar (waist-wrapper)—with kasrah on the mīm and a silent hamzah—is the lower garment. The expression “he tightened his waist-wrapper for a matter” means that he prepared himself and rolled up his sleeves for it; it is a euphemism for earnestness and energetic devotion in worship. Al-Thawrī said that it is one of the most delicate allusions to refraining from marital relations. Others held that it is simultaneously a metaphor for exerting oneself in worship and for staying away from one’s wives. Scholars of rhetoric affirm that a euphemism does not cancel out the literal sense, so it is entirely plausible that the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) literally fastened his garment more firmly, devoted himself to worship, and disengaged from everything else.
• “and he enlivened his night” (aḥyā laylah) can be understood in two ways:
- With reference to the worshiper himself: by remaining in worship instead of sleep—which is akin to death—he brings life to his own soul.
- With reference to the night itself: since it becomes like daytime through prolonged standing in prayer, it is as though he brings the night to life through obedience and worship.
Lessons derived from the hadith:
- The final ten nights of Ramadan are the finest nights of the entire year because of the tremendous merits and lofty virtues with which they have been distinguished, foremost among them the Night of Decree.
Shaykh al-Islām said: The last ten nights of Ramadan are superior to the nights of Dhu