The first reason is that during this night every event that will occur throughout the coming year—whether it concerns human actions or anything else—is decreed. The proof is the Almighty’s word: “Indeed, We sent it down on a blessed night. We have always been warning: on that night every matter of wisdom is apportioned” (Q 44:3–4); that is, each affair is set out and clarified.

The second reason is its loftiness: Laylat al-Qadr is a night of exalted honor, for its worth is immense. Concerning it Allah says: “Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree. And what will make you know what the Night of Decree is? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months…” (Q 97:1–3).

This night, with all its virtue, has been singled out for this ummah. It is related that when the Prophet ﷺ was shown the lifespans of his community, he considered them short, so Laylat al-Qadr was granted to him and made better than a thousand months. Thus, if a person has lived twenty years, those twenty years become, by virtue of Laylat al-Qadr, the equivalent of twenty thousand years. Such is Allah’s grace upon this nation.

Allah, exalted be He, has favored this ummah and its Prophet ﷺ with distinctions not granted to those who came before. All praise, then, belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The author next cites the reports indicating that Laylat al-Qadr falls in Ramadan; that it is within the last ten nights; that it is more likely on the odd-numbered nights of those ten; and that the twenty-seventh night is most probable. Nevertheless, the night shifts within the last ten: one year it may be the twenty-first, the next the twenty-third, the third the twenty-fifth, the twenty-seventh, the twenty-ninth, or even the twenty-fourth, twenty-sixth, or twenty-second. It is not permanently fixed. The strongest likelihood is the twenty-seventh, then the other odd nights; and of the last ten, the final seven nights are most likely, for a number of Companions saw Laylat al-Qadr in the last seven nights, so he said—