The Valuable Night

Once the beloved Prophet Muhammed, may Peace and Blessings of Allah bu upon him, told the Companions the story of a Jewish ascetic. He'd do jihad in the day and spend the night in worship. To top it all he did it for a thousand months. This saddened the Companions. " O our beloved Prophet (PBUH) we do not have such long lives. Wont we be deprived of the corresponding reward?", they said to the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Allah, Alla-Pure and Most High had Mercy on the Companions, and thus all believers and sent the Chapter : The Night of the Holy Qura'n. This tells about the Valuable Night (shab-e-qadr)-the night that is better than a thousand months. The night in which angels descend, including Hazrat Jibreel (AS) and send peace on the believers-till the break of dawn. To search for this night is part of the beliefs of a Muslim. The knowledge of the Valuable Night was given to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by Allah, All-Pure and Exalted. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) started towards the Holy Mosque to tell the good news and the method to identify the Valuable Night. But on the way he found two people quarreling. He tried to induce peace among them but in the process forgot the method to locate the Valuable Night among three hundred and sixty nights of the year. As a by product of this story we get a lesson about the harms of quarrel. At a place in the Holy Book we get the information that the Holy Book descended from the Tablet in Heaven in the Month of Ramadan. Thus we should look for it in the present month and spend it in prayer to get the rewards better than prayers and worship of thousand months. According to a tradition we should look for the Valuable Night in the odd nights of last ten days of the Holy month of Ramadan. There are other signs of this night that the stars sign rather brightly in this night and it is neither too hot nor too cold and that the sun next day rises rather blemish free, that is, without clouds. May Allah, All-Pure and Most High provide us the opportunity to find this night and make the most of it by worship, prayer and supplications. A person getting even two Valuable nights in his life will surpass the ascetic in question in worship. Verily our Lord Almighty is Most Merciful, Most Beneficent.