or mediating on his behalf to obtain some benefit or repel some harm, and the like.

The Prophet ﷺ, as Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) said, was “the most generous of people.” He was generous with his wealth, his very self, his knowledge, his preaching, his counsel—indeed with everything that could benefit creation. His generosity reached its peak in Ramadan, for Ramadan is the month of generosity: in it Allah bestows His bounty upon the servants, and those whom He guides to success show generosity to their brothers. Allah, exalted is He, is All-Generous and loves generosity.

During Ramadan Gabriel would descend to the Prophet ﷺ every night to review the Qur’an with him, so that it might be firmly fixed in his heart and so that the reward of this joint recitation might be multiplied. Gabriel—peace be upon him—came down in a manner unknown to us, for he is an angel, and angels are not seen except when Allah wills. Whenever Gabriel met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and they studied the Qur’an together, the Prophet’s generosity in doing good surpassed the freely blowing wind: he would hasten to good deeds and pour out benefits faster than the wind Allah sends forth—swift and forceful though that wind is. Yet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was even more generous with good in Ramadan.

The author then quotes the hadith of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her): when the last ten nights of Ramadan arrived, the Prophet ﷺ would spend the night in worship—filling it with remembrance, Qur’an, prayer, and devotion—he would wake his family, and he would tighten his waist-wrap. He roused them so that they might pray, and he girded himself in full readiness for worship, for tightening the waist-wrap signifies preparing oneself and gaining strength for work. Some have explained that it also means he refrained from marital relations, devoting himself entirely to worship; both explanations are sound.