Ibn ‘Abbas reported the Prophet as saying, “Seek lailat al-qadr in the last ten nights of Ramadan, on the twenty-first, twenty-third and twenty-fifth.” Bukhari transmitted it.

God’s messenger spent the first ten nights of Ramadan in devotion, and spent the middle ten nights in devotion in a round Turkish tent, after which he raised his head and said, “I have spent the first ten nights in devotion seeking this night, then I spent the middle ten nights in devotion, and after that I had a heavenly visitant and was told that it is in the last ten, so he who has engaged in devotion along with me should do so during the last ten nights, for I was shown this nights, then was caused to forget it, but I have seen myself prostrating in water and clay on the morning following, so seek it among the last ten and seek it in every night with an odd number.” He said: Rain fell that night, the mosque which was a thatched building dripped, and my eyes saw God’s messenger with traces of water and clay on his forehead on the morning after the twenty-first night. Bukhari and Muslim agree on the subject-matter, the wording being Muslim's up to “and was told it is it the last ten”, the remainder being Bukhari's. In the version of ‘Abdallah b. Unais he said it was the twenty-third night. Muslim transmitted it.

I questioned Ubayy b. Ka'b about a statement by his brother [not actual brother] Ibn Mas'ud to the effect that anyone who gets up for prayer every night in the year will hit upon lailat al-qadr, and he replied, “God have mercy on him! He meant that people should not content themselves [with that might alone]. He knew that it was in Ramadan among the last ten nights and that it was the twenty-seventh.” He then swore without any reservation that it was the twenty-seventh, and when I asked, “On what ground do you state that, Abul Mundhir? [Ubayy's kunya]” he replied, “By the indication (or sign)* of which God’s messenger informed us, viz. that the sun rises on that day without rays.” *An alternative, the transmitter not being sure which word was used. *An alternative, the transmitter not being sure which word was used. Muslim transmitted it.

‘A'isha said that God’s messenger used to exert himself in devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extent than at any other time. Muslim transmitted it.

She said that when the last ten nights began God’s messenger prepared himself for religious exercises, stayed awake at night and wakened his family. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘A'isha said she asked God’s messenger to tell her what prayers to say on lailat al-qadr if she knew which night it was, and he told her to say, “O God, Thou art forgiving and lovest forgiveness, so forgive me.” Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Tirmidhi declared it to be sound.

Abu Bakra said he heard God’s messenger say, “Seek it (meaning lailat al-qadr), on the twenty-first, twenty-third, twenty-fifth, twentyseventh, or on the last night.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said God’s messenger was asked about lailat al-qadr and replied, “It occurs every Ramadan.” Abu Dawud transmitted it and said that Sufyan and Shu'ba transmitted it on the authority of Abu Ishaq tracing it no farther back than Ibn ‘Umar.

‘Abdallah b. Unais told that he said, “Messenger of God, I have a place in the desert where I live and in which I pray praising God, but give me command about a night when I may leave it and come to this mosque.” He replied, “Come on the twenty-third night.” His son was asked how his father used to act and said he used to enter the mosque when he had prayed the afternoon prayer and not leave it for any purpose till he prayed the morning prayer. Then when he had prayed the morning prayer he found his beast at the door of the mosque, mounted it and got back to his desert region. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Ubada b. as-Samit said that the Prophet came out to inform them about lailat al-qadr, but finding two Muslims disputing together he said, “I came out to inform you about lailat al-qadr, but so and so and so and so had a dispute, and the knowledge of it has been withdrawn. That, however, may perhaps be better for you, so seek it on the ninth, the seventh and the fifth.”* *i.e. the twenty-ninth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-fifth. Bukhari transmitted it.

Anas reported God's messenger as saying that when lailat al-qadr comes Gabriel descends with a company of angels who invoke blessings on everyone who is standing or sitting and remembering God who is great and glorious. Then when their festival day comes, i.e. the day when they break their fast, God speaks proudly of them to His angels saying, “My angels, what is the reward of a hired servant who has fully accomplished his work?” They reply, “Our Lord, his reward is that he should be paid his wage in full.” He says, “My angels, my male and female servants have fulfilled what I have made obligatory for them, and then have come out raising their voices in supplication. By my might, glory, honour, high dignity, and exalted station, I will certainly answer them.” Then He says, “Return, for I have forgiven you and changed your evil deeds into good deeds.” He said that they then return having received forgiveness. Baihaqi transmitted it in Shu'ab al-iman.

‘A'isha said that the Prophet used to engage in private devotions in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan till God took him, and then his wives followed this practice after his death.* *Mirqat says that the Prophet’s wives observed periods of seclusion for devotion, not in the mosque but in their houses. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn ‘Abbas said that God’s messenger was the most generous of men, and he was as generous as possible in Ramadan. Gabriel used to meet him every night in Ramadan and the Prophet would go over the Qur’an to him. When Gabriel met him he was more generous than the wind which blows freely. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira said that the Qur’an was gone over* to the Prophet once annually, but that this was done twice in the year in which he died. He used to engage in private devotions in the mosque during ten nights every year, but he did this during twenty nights in the year in which he died. *Mirqat remarks that some expositors say the passive is used here because the person who went over the Quran to the Prophet was well-known, viz. Gabriel. Bukhari transmitted it.

‘A'isha said, “During his private devotional exercises God’s messenger would put his head near me when he was in the mosque, and I would comb it; and he entered the house only to relieve himself.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn ‘Umar said that when ‘Umar consulted the Prophet about a vow he had made in the pre-Islamic period to spend a night in devotion in the sacred mosque, he said, “Fulfill your vow.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas said that the Prophet was accustomed to engage in private devotion in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan; but one year he omitted it and he engaged in it during twenty nights the next year. Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it from Ubayy b. Ka'b.

‘A'isha said that when God’s messenger intended to engage in private devotion in the mosque he prayed the dawn prayer and then entered his place of seclusion. Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

She said that the Prophet used to visit the sick while engaged in a period of private devotion in the mosque and he would pass on straight ahead without pausing and ask for him. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

She said that the sunna for one who is observing a period of private devotion in a mosque is not to visit an invalid, or attend a funeral, or touch or embrace one’s wife, or go out for anything but necessary purposes. There is no period of private devotion in a mosque without fasting, and it must be carried out in a congregational mosque. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said that when the Prophet observed a period of private devotion in the mosque his bedding was placed for him, or a couch was put down for him, behind the column of repentance.* *A column in the Prophet's mosque in Medina, said to have got this name because the repentance of Abu Lubaba was accepted beside it. Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying about one who observes a period of private devotion in a mosque, “He turns away from sins and he is rewarded for good deeds like one who does all good deeds.” Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Abu Musa reported God’s messenger as saying, “Feed the hungry, visit the sick and free the captive.” Bukhari transmitted it.

to return a salutation, visit the sick, follow funerals, accept an invitation and say ‘God have mercy on you’ when one sneezes.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “A Muslim has six duties towards another Muslim.” When asked what they were he replied, “When you meet him salute him ; when he issues an invitation to you, accept it; when he asks your advice give it to him ; when he sneezes and praises God say, ‘God have mercy on you’; when he is ill visit him ; and when he dies follow him to the grave.” Muslim transmitted it.

The Prophet gave us seven commands and seven prohibitions. He commanded us to visit the sick, to follow funerals, to say ‘God have mercy on you’ when someone sneezes, to return salutations, to accept invitations, to help people to fulfil their oaths, and to help the wronged; and he forbade us gold rings, silk, thick brocade, embroidered silk, red stuffing placed on a saddle, Qassi garments (said to be cloth made of flax and raw silk which came from a place in Egypt called Qass between al-'Arish and al-Farama. Another suggestion is that the name is changed from qazzi and means silk.) and silver vessels. A version says drinking from silver vessels, for he who drinks out of them in this world will not drink out of them in the next. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Thauban reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a Muslim pays a sick visit to his brother Muslim he continues to gather the fruits of paradise till he returns.” Muslim transmitted it.

On the day of resurrection God most high will say, “Son of Adam, I was sick and you did not visit me.” He will reply, “My Lord, how could I visit Thee when Thou art the Lord of the universe?” He will say, “Did you not know that my servant so and so was ill and yet you did not visit him? Did you not know that if you had visited him you would have found me with him? Son of Adam, I asked you for food but you gave me none.” He will reply, “My Lord, how could I feed Thee when Thou art the Lord of the universe?” He will say, “Did you not know that my servant so and so asked you for food and yet you gave him none? Did you not know that if you had fed him you would have found that with me? Son of Adam, I asked you for drink but you gave me none.” He will reply “My Lord, how could I give Thee drink when Thou art the Lord of the universe?” He will say, “My servant so and so asked you for drink but you gave him none. Did you not know that if you had given him something to drink you would have found that with me?’’ Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that the Prophet went in to visit a Bedouin Arab, and when he entered to visit a sick man he was accustomed to say, “No harm will come; it is a purification, if God will.” He repeated these words, and when the man replied, “Not at all; it is on the contrary a fever which is boiling in an old man and will cause him to visit the graves,” the Prophet said, “Very well, then.” Bukharl transmitted it.

When one of us had a complaint God’s messenger wiped him with his right hand and then said, “Remove the harm, Lord of men, and give healing. Thou art the Healer. There is no healing but Thine, a healing which leaves no illness behind.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

She said that when a person complained of some trouble, or if he had a sore or a wound, the Prophet would say while pointing with his finger, “In the name of God. It is the soil of our land with the spittle of one of us (the suggestion is that the Prophet took some earth on his finger and spat on it), that our sick one may be healed by our Lord’s permission.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Uthman b. Abul ‘As said he complained to God’s messenger of a pain he had in his body, and he told him to put his hand on the part of his body which was sore and say three times “In the name of God,” and seven times, “I seek refuge in God’s might and power from the evil of what I am experiencing and trying to avert.” He said he did so, and God removed his trouble. Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said Gabriel came to the Prophet and asked, “Have you a complaint, Muhammad?” When he replied that he had, he said, “In the name of God I am applying a charm to you from everything which may harm you, from the evil of every evil eye, or eye of an envious one. God heals you. In the name of God I am applying a charm to you.” Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that God’s messenger used to commend al-Hasan and al-Husain to God’s protection, saying “With God’s perfect words I commend you to God’s protection from every devil and poisonous creature and from every evil eye.” And he would say, “Your ancestor used to commend Ishmael and Isaac with them to God’s protection.”(Abraham is here said to have done to his sons the same as the Prophet did to his grandsons.) Bukhari transmitted it. Most texts of al-Masabih have “with them” in the dual.

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “Anyone for whom God intends good is made to suffer some affliction from Him.” Bukhari transmitted it.

He and Abu Sa'id reported the Prophet as saying, “No Muslim is afflicted by difficulty, continuous pain, anxiety, grief, injury, or care, or even by a thorn with which he is pierced, without God thereby making an atonement for his sins.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

I went in to visit the Prophet when he was jaded by fever, and touching him with my hand, I said, “You are seriously jaded by fever, messenger of God.” The Prophet replied, “Yes, I am twice as jaded as any of you.” I said, “That is because you have a double reward.” He replied that that was so and then said, “No Muslim is afflicted by injury, be it illness or something else, without God thereby causing his sins to drop away just as a tree sheds its leaves.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘A’isha said she never saw anyone suffering severer pain than God’s messenger. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

She said, “The Prophet died lying between my breast and my collarbone. I will never feel bad about anyone having a painful death after what I saw the Prophet suffer.” Bukhari transmitted it.

Ka‘b b. Malik reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer is like a tender plant moved by the winds, sometimes being bent down and sometimes made to stand up straight, till his appointed time comes; but the hypocrite is like the cedar standing firmly, which is unaffected by anything, till it is completely cast down.”( The idea of this tradition is that believers have many troubles during their lifetime, whereas hypocrites escape them.) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer is like a plant which is continually swayed by the wind, for the believer is continually afflicted by trial; but the hypocrite is like a cedar tree which does not shake till it is cut down.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Jabir told of God’s messenger visiting Umm as-Sa’ib (Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (Isti'ab, p. 781) gives her name in this form, but says she is called by some Umm al-Musayyib) and asking, “What is the matter with you that you are trembling?” She replied, “Fever; may God not bless it.” He said, “Do not revile fever, for it removes the sins of the sons of Adam just as the bellows remove the dross of iron.” Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Musa reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a man is ill or on a journey, what he was accustomed to do when staying at home and well will be recorded for him.”(This refers to his observance of salat, etc., cf. the traditions of ‘Abdallah b. 'Amr and Anas on p. 326.) Bukhari transmitted it.

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying, “Every Muslim who dies of plague is credited with martyrdom.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

one who dies of plague, one who dies of an internal complaint, one who is drowned, one who is killed by his house falling on him, and the martyr in God’s path.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘A’isha said, “I asked God’s messenger about plague and he told me it is a punishment God sends upon whomsoever He wills, but God has made it a blessing to the believers. When plague comes, anyone who stays patiently in his town looking for his reward from God, knowing that only what God has decreed for him can happen to him, will have a reward like that of a martyr.” Bukhari transmitted it.

Usama b. Zaid reported God’s messenger as saying, “Plague is a punishment which was sent down on a section of the B. Isrs’il, or on people before your time. When you hear of it in a land do not go to it, and if it occurs in a land while you are in it do not go out fleeing from it. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas said he heard the Prophet declare that God who is glorious and exalted said, “When I afflict my servant in his two loved things (i.e. his eyes), and he endures patiently, I shall compensate him for them with paradise.” Bukhari transmitted it.

‘All said he heard God’s messenger say, “No Muslim will pay a sick visit to another in the morning without seventy thousand angels invoking blessings on him till the evening, or visit him in the evening without seventy thousand angels invoking blessings on him till the morning, and he will have gathered fruits (the word used here is kharif, one of whose meanings is gathered or plucked fruits) in paradise.” Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Zaid b. Arqam said the Prophet visited him when he had a pain in his eyes. Ahmad and Abu Dawud transmitted it.