762—Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad informed us; Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad informed us; Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik narrated to us; Abu al-Hasan Harun ibn Isma‘il al-Khazzaz narrated to us—dictating it to us from his book—saying: Ali ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us; Yahya ibn Abi Kathir narrated to us; Hilal told me that Ata related to him that Uqbah ibn Amir related to him, saying:

“We were travelling with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said: ‘When a third of the night has passed—or, he said, half the night—Allah descends to the lowest heaven and says: “None other than Me asks concerning My servants: Who is there who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him? Who ⦗495⦘ is there who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who is there who asks Me, that I may give to him?” This continues until dawn breaks.’”

Al-Naysaburi said: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik narrated to us: “This is how Harun dictated it to us from his book,” and he said, “from Uqbah ibn Amir.”

Shaykh Abu al-Qasim al-Hafiz said: “Al-Awza‘i, Hisham, and Ali ibn al-Mubarak also narrated it from Yahya, from Hilal, from Ata, from Rifa‘ah; and this is closer to what is correct.”