and relying upon Him—perfection in these is prescribed. Yet excess and transgression may occur when things that do not belong to them are introduced into them, such as making the abandonment of means one is commanded to employ part of reliance upon Allah, or making the treatment of forbidden things as lawful and the abandonment of prescribed acts part of love for Him. This, then, is how the matter stands. And Allah, glorified and exalted be He, knows best.

He was asked—may Allah be pleased with him and grant him His good pleasure—about the Night of Decree while he was imprisoned in the Citadel—the Mountain Citadel—in 706 AH.

He replied:

All praise is due to Allah.

The Night of Decree occurs during the last ten nights of Ramadan. It is authentically reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“It is in the last ten nights of Ramadan.”

It falls on an odd-numbered night among them. However, the odd-numbered nights may be reckoned by counting from the beginning of the month. Thus, it should be sought on the twenty-first, twenty-third, twenty-fifth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-ninth nights.