WHAT A BLESSED PLACE AND WHAT AN
AUSPICIOUS NIGHT!
This night has no equal in man's life. It is dark but brighter than any day for men of heart. It is a night when the breeze of God's mercy is blowing and rain of His forgiveness is falling. It is a night when the doors of God's favor are opened to man. It is the even of the festival of sacrifice and the time of the King's public audience.
Imam Sadiq (a.s) says:
وإنِ استَطَعتَ أنْ تحيِيَ تلكَ الليلةِ فافْعلْ، فَإنّه بَلَغَنا أنَّ أبوابَ السّماءِ لا تُغلقُ تلكَ الليلةَ لأَصواتِ المؤمِنينَ لهُم دَوِيٌّ كَدَويِّ النّحلِ. يقولُ اللهُ جلّ ثناؤهُ: أَنا رَبُّكُم وأَنتُم عِبادِي أدَّيتُم حَقِّي وحقٌّ عَلَيَّ أن اَستَجيبَ لكُم. فَيَحُطُّ اللهُ تلكَ الليلةَ عّمَّن أرادَ أنْ يحُطَّ ذُنوبَهُ ويغْفِرُ لمَن أرادَ أن يغفرَ لهُ
If you can keep vigil tonight, do it, for it has been reported to us that the gates of heaven are not closed to the believers tonight. Allah says: 'I am Your Lord and you are My servants. You have paid my due. Hence, it is incumbent on Me to answer your prayer.' Therefore, He removes the sins of whomever He wishes and forgives whom He wills.1
NIGHT, TIME OF COMMUNION WITH GOD
Men of heart and insight know that night is opportune time for communion with God. Among blessings God has bestowed upon man is the blessing of night:
جَعَلْنَا اللّيْلَ لِباساً
And We made the night to be a covering. (The Holy Quran; 78:10)
وَاللّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَى
I swear by the night when it draws a veil. (The Holy Quran; 92:1)
Should the child-like playful man be left to himself, he is so much in love with the playing called the world and its ornaments that he will
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1 See al-Kafi; Vol. 4 p. 469 hadith 1
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ruin himself. But like a loving mother who puts her playful child to sleep so that the child's energy will not go into waste, God puts a covering on man so that his eyes will not see all these toys and will be quieted down. Unfortunately, this playful man has turned nights into days with artificial lights and spends his precious life on love for the world making himself physically and mentally exhausted and deprived of the aim of creation. In this world where most people are dead-hearted ?and most of them do not understand,?1 there are men of heart who are source of human dignity and living evidence of man's superiority over animals, people who work during the day and keep vigil at night.
وَأمّا النَّهارُ فَحُلَماءُ عُلَماءُ، بَرَرَةٌ أتْقِياءُ، قَدْ بَراهُمُ الخَوْفُ فَهُمْ أمْثالُ القِداحِ يَنظُرُ إلَيهِمُ النّاظِرُ فَيَحْسَبُهُم مَرْضى وَما بِالقَوْمِ مِن مَرَضٍ ، أو يَقولُ : قَدْ خولِطُوا، فَقَدْ خالَطَ القَومَ أمْرٌ عَظيمٌ.
أمّا اللَّيلُ فَصافُّونَ أَقْدامَهُم تالِينَ لأَجْزاءِ القُرْآنِ يُرَتِّلونَهُ تَرْتيلاً، يُحْزِنونَ بهِ أنفُسَهُم، وَيَسْتَبشِرونَ بهِ، وتَهيجُ أحْزانُهُم بُكاءً عَلى ذُنوبِهِم وَوَجَعِ كُلومِ جَوانحِهِم ، فَإذا مَرُّوا بآيَةٍ فيها تَخويفٌ أصْغَوا إلَيها بمَسامِعِ قُلوبِهِم وَأبْصارِهِم، فَاقْشَعَرَّتْ مِنها جُلودُهُم، وَوَجِلَت مِنها قُلوبُهُم، وَظَنّوا أنَّ صَهيلَ جَهَنَّمَ وَزَفيرَها وشَهِيقَها في اُصُولِ آذانِهِم، وَإِذا مَرُّوا بِآيَةٍ فِيها تَشْويقٌ رَكَنوا إلَيها طَمَعاً ، وَتَطَلّعَتْ أنفُسُهُم إلَيها شَوقاً، فَظَنُّوا أنَّها نُصْبَ أعْيُنِهِم، جاثِينَ عَلى أوساطِهِم يمَجِّدونَ جَبّاراً عَظيماً، مُفتَرِشينَ جِباهَهُم وَأَكُفَّهُم وأطْرافَ أقْدامِهِم وَرُكَبِهِم، تجَرِي دُمُوعُهُم عَلى خُدودِهِم، يَجْأَرونَ إلى اللهِ في فِكاكِ رِقابِهِم
During the day they are enduring, learned, virtuous, and God-fearing. Fear of Allah has made them thin like arrows, if anyone looks at them he believes they are sick, although they are not sick, and he says that they have gone mad. In fact, great concern has made them mad. During the night they are upstanding on their feet reading portions of the Quran and reciting it in a well-measured way, creating through it grief for themselves and seeking by it the care for their ailments. If they come across a verse creating
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1 The Holy Quran; 5:103
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eagerness for Paradise they pursue it avidly, and their spirit turns towards it eagerly, and they feel as if it is in from of them. And when they come across a verse which contains fear of Hell, they bend the ears of their hearts towards it, and feel as though the sound of Hell and its cries are reaching their ears. They bend themselves from their backs, prostrate themselves on their foreheads, their palms, their knees, and their toes, and beseech Allah, the Sublime for their deliverance.1
Imam Ali (a.s) longed for the nights to come so that he could have communion with God. During his supplication, he would always say:
آهٍ آهٍ مِن قِلَّةِ الزّاد وطُولِ الطّريقِ وبُعدِ السّفَر
Alas! The provision is little, the way is long, the journey is far and the goal is hard to reach.2
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1 See Nahjul Balagha; sermon 193: Qualities of the God-fearing
2 See Nahjul Balagha; maxim 77