This is despite the fact that the Mighty Book uses both grammatical forms of the word “ten” (1) in more than one place, as in His saying, Most High:
“So fast three days during Hajj and seven when you return; that makes ten complete days.”
[Surah al-Baqarah: 196]
And He said:
“Those of you who die and leave wives behind—their wives shall wait by themselves for four months and ten days.”
[Surah al-Baqarah: 234]
And He, Most High, said:
“We appointed for Moses thirty nights and completed them with ten.”
[Surah al-Arāf: 142]
And He, Most High, said:
“By the dawn, and by the ten nights.”
[Surah al-Fajr: 1–2]
Thus, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned the word “ten” in praiseworthy contexts, whereas He mentioned the word “nine” in a blameworthy context, as in His saying, Most High:
“There were in the city nine men who spread corruption in the land and did not set things right.”
[Surah al-Naml: 48]
The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“Seek the Night of Decree among the last ten nights of Ramadan.” (2)
He would observe spiritual retreat during the last ten nights until Allah, Most High, took him in death. He also said:
“There are no days during which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” (3)
Thus, if Allah and His Messenger have used the word “ten” and attached to this
(1) The words *wa’l-ashr* (“and [the masculine form of] ‘ten’”) are omitted in A and B.
(2) The hadith narrated from Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—is found in al-Bukhārī, 3/47 (Book on the Virtue of the Night of Decree, “Seeking the Night of Decree…”); Muslim, 2/828 (Book of Fasting, “The Virtue of the Night of Decree…”); and *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 2/144 (Book of Fasting, “Reports Concerning the Night of Decree”). The hadith is also reported with a disconnected chain from Hishām ibn Urwa, from his father, in *al-Muwatta*, 1/319 (Book of Spiritual Retreat, “Reports Concerning the Night of Decree”).
(3) This is part of a hadith narrated from Ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—with some variation in wording. It is found in *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 2/129 (Book of Fasting, “Reports Concerning Deeds During the Ten Days”). Al-Tirmidhī said: “Reports on this subject are also narrated from Ibn Umar, Abū Hurayra, Abd Allah ibn Amr, and Jābir. Abū Īsā said: The hadith of Ibn Abbās is *hasan gharīb sahīh*.” The hadith is also found in *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 1/550 (Book of Fasting, “Fasting the Ten Days”); and *al-Musnad* (al-Maārif ed.), 3/298—where Shaykh Ahmad Shākir said: “Its chain of transmission is sound. It was also narrated by al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah, as noted in *al-Targhīb wa’l-Tarhīb*, 2:124”—and 5/54. The versions of Ibn Abbās’s hadith in al-Bukhārī differ in wording; see al-Bukhārī, 2/20 (Book of the Two Eids, “The Virtue of Deeds During the Days of Tashrīq”). See also *Fath al-Bārī*, 2/457–458.