Tafseer of The Power, Fate · Al-Qadr · 97:3
The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, who said: It reached me on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ("The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months"), he said: The deeds, the fasting, and the night prayer therein are better than a thousand months.
He said: al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Mulāʾī related to us, concerning His statement: خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ("better than a thousand months"), he said: A deed therein is better than a deed of a thousand months.
And others said: The meaning of it is that the Night of Decree is better than a thousand months in which there is no Night of Decree.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ("better than a thousand months"): in which there is no Night of Decree.
And others said concerning it what Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām ibn Salm related to us, on the authority of al-Muthannā ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Among the Children of Israel there was a man who would spend the night in prayer until he reached the morning, and then by day fight the enemy until he reached the evening; he did that for a thousand months. Then Allah sent down this verse: لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ("The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months") — spending that one night in prayer is better than the deed of that man.
And others said concerning it what Abū al-Khaṭṭāb al-Jārūdī Suhayl related to me, saying: Salm ibn Qutayba related to us, saying: al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Māzin, who said: I said to al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him: O you who have blackened the faces of the believers, you went to this man and pledged allegiance to him — he meant Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān. Then he said: Truly, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, was shown in his sleep the Banū Umayya climbing upon his pulpit, caliph after caliph, and that weighed heavily upon him. Then Allah sent down: إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ ("Verily, We have given you al-Kawthar") and إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ * وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ * لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ("Verily, We sent it down in 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") — he means the rule of the Banū Umayya. Al-Qāsim said: We reckoned the rule of the Banū Umayya, and behold, it was a thousand months.
And the statement concerning this that is most in agreement with the apparent meaning of the revelation is the statement of the one who said: A deed in the Night of Decree is better than a deed of a thousand months in which there is no Night of Decree. As for the other statements, they are assertions of false meanings, for which there exists no indication, neither from transmission nor from reason, and which are also not to be found in the revelation.
