5
The Night Vigil
QIYĀM AL-LAYL
QURANIC VERSES
The pertinent Qur’ānic Verses are these words of God, Glorified and Exalted is He:
‘Your Lord knows that you keep vigil nearly two-thirds of the night, or half or one-third of it, as do a group of those with you …’ [al-Muzzammil, 73:20]
‘The first part of the night is indeed the time when impressions are strongest and speech most direct.’ [al-Muzzammil, 73:6]
‘Their sides forsake their couches as they call on their Lord in fear and hope …’ [al-Sajdah, 32:16]
‘Is he who devotes the night-hours to worship, prostrating himself and standing up in Prayer, aware of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord …?’ [al-Zumar, 39:9]
‘And who spend the night before their Lord, prostrating themselves and standing up …’ [al-Furqān, 25:64]
‘Look for help in patience and Prayer
* …’ [al-Baqarah, 2:45]
TRADITIONS OF THE PROPHET
Relevant Traditions include the following sayings of the Prophet, on him be peace:
‘While any one of you is sleeping, Satan ties three knots on the nape of your neck, and all night long he strikes the spot where each knot is tied, keeping you asleep. But if you wake up and remember God, Exalted is He, one knot is undone; if you perform the ritual
ablution, a second knot is untied; if you perform the Prayer, the third knot is loosened and in the morning you will be fresh and in good spirits – otherwise the morning will find you bad-tempered and slothful.’
1
(On hearing about a man who used to sleep all night right through till morning): ‘Satan has urinated in that man’s ear.’
2
‘Satan has a kind of snuff, a kind of syrup and a kind of powder. When he gets a man to take this snuff, the man becomes badly behaved; when he administers the syrup, the man becomes sharp- and evil-tongued; when he applies the powder, the man sleeps right through the night till morning.’
3
‘Two cycles of Prayer performed in the middle of the night are better for a man than the world and all it contains. But for the hardship it would have caused my Community, I would have made them compulsory.’
4
‘There is an hour of the night when, if any Muslim asks God, Exalted is He, for something good, He is sure to grant it to him.’ Or, in another version: ‘… asks God, Exalted is He, for something good of this world or the Hereafter. And that is every night.’
5
According to Mughira ibn Sha’ba, God’s Messenger, on him be peace, would get up to pray until his feet were splitting. Someone said to him: ‘Surely God has forgiven you your former and your latter sins?’ But he replied: ‘Should I not be a grateful servant?’
6 What is clearly implicit here is an allusion to increase in stature, for gratitude is the cause of augmentation. In the words of God, Exalted is He:
‘If you give thanks, I will surely give you more.’ [Ibrāhīm, 14:7]
(La-in shakartum la-azīdannakum.)
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Abū Hurayra, do you wish to enjoy God’s mercy in life and in death, in the tomb and at the Resurrection? Then get up at night and pray! Do you wish for your Lord’s approval, Abū Hurayra? Then pray in the corners of your house; your house will be as radiant in heaven as the light of the
planets and stars is to people on earth.’
7
The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘It is incumbent upon you to observe night vigil, for it was the practice of your righteous predecessors. Night vigil brings us close to God, Great and Glorious is He, atones for our sins, drives disease from the body and puts a stop to transgression.’
8
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘Whenever a man is overtaken by sleep while performing Prayer at night, the reward for his Prayer is recorded in his favour and his sleep is reckoned as Alms.’
9
God’s Messenger, on him be peace, said to Abū Dharr: ‘If I were intending to make a journey, would I get provisions ready for it?’ ‘Yes,’ said he. ‘Well, Abū Dharr, how about the journey on the way to the Hereafter? Shall I not tell you what will be useful to you on that day?’ ‘Of course! You are more to me than my father and mother.’ ‘Fast on a very hot day, in preparation for the Day of Resurrection; perform two Prayer-cycles in the darkness of night, in readiness for the desolation of the tomb; make a Pilgrimage, for portentous events; do an act of charity, by giving Alms to a pauper, by speaking a word of truth, or by holding back a word of evil.’
10
It is related that in the time of the Prophet, on him be peace, there was a man who, when others took to their beds and closed their eyes, would get up to pray and recite the Quran, saying: ‘Lord of the Fire, deliver me from it.’ When this was mentioned to the Prophet, on him be peace, he said: ‘Notify me when this happens.’ Then he came to him and he heard for himself. When morning came he said to him: ‘So-and-so, have you not asked God for Paradise?’ But he replied: ‘Messenger of God, I am not there, nor do my deeds amount to that.’ Shortly after this, Gabriel, on him be peace, descended and said: ‘Tell so-and-so that God has already delivered him from the Fire and admitted him to Paradise.’
11
It is further related that Gabriel, on him be peace, said: ‘Ibn ‘Umar would be such a good man if only he would pray at night!’ The Prophet, on him be peace, informed him of this and from then on he always kept night vigil.
12
Nāfi’ said: ‘Ibn ‘Umar would pray through the night, then say: “Nāfi’, is it time for the pre-dawn meal?” When I said “No,” he would resume his Prayers. Then he would ask me again, and when I said: “Yes,” he would sit down and beg forgiveness of God, Exalted is He, till the dawn broke.’
Said ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib: ‘Yaḥyā, the son of Zakariyā, on both of them be peace, ate his fill of barley and went to sleep without reciting his devotions. When morning came, God, Exalted is He, said to him by inspiration: “Yaḥyā, have you found a dwelling better for you than My dwelling? Or have you found a neighbourhood better for you than My neighbourhood? By My might and majesty, Yaḥyā, if you took one look at Paradise your fat would melt and your soul would expire from yearning, while if you took one look at Hell your fat would melt, you would weep pus after tears and wear leather after haircloth.”’
God’s Messenger, on him be peace, was told: ‘So-and-so prays during the night and in the morning he steals.’ Said he: ‘His good action will cause him to desist.’
13
The Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘God grants His mercy to a man who gets up in the night to pray, then wakes up his wife to pray also, sprinkling water on her face if she is unwilling.’
14 He also said, on him be peace: ‘God grants His mercy to a wife who gets up in the night to pray, then rouses her husband to pray also, sprinkling water on his face if he is unwilling.’
15 Further: ‘If a man wakes up at night and rouses his wife, and they both perform two cycles of Prayer, they are recorded among the men and women who remember God very often.’
16
The Prophet, on him be peace, also said: ‘The best Prayer after the (five) prescribed is the night vigil.’
17
Said ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may God be pleased with him: ‘The Prophet, on him be peace, said: “If someone misses his portion of Quran-recitation, or part of it, through sleeping at night, then makes up his reading between the dawn- and midday-Prayers, it will be recorded in his favour as if he had done his reading at night.”’
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TRADITIONS OF THE COMPANIONS AND THEIR FOLLOWERS
Among the Traditions of the Companions, it is related that ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, would be going over the Verse from his nightly recitation till he fainted and dropped, so then he would be visited because of this for several days as a sick man receives visits. When others’ eyes were asleep, Ibn Mas’ūd, may God be pleased with him, would get up and until morning a droning sound could be heard from him like the droning of bees. It is said that Sufyān al-Thawrī, may God grant him His mercy, ate his fill one night, saying: ‘When the donkey gets extra fodder, it works all the harder.’ Then he kept vigil that night through till morning. When Ṭā’ūs, may God grant him His mercy, reclined on his bed he would feel as restless as peas in a frying-pan, so he would jump up and pray till morning. Then he would say: ‘The recollection of Hell sends the sleep of the worshipful flying!’
Said al-Ḥasan, may God grant him His mercy: ‘We know of no harder act of piety than enduring through the night and offering up our money.’ He was asked: ‘How is it that those who observe the Prayers of night vigil are among the people with the most beautiful faces?’ To this he replied: ‘Because they commune with the All-merciful and He clothes them in light from His light.’
A certain righteous man came home from his travels. His bed was laid out for him and he fell asleep on it, missing his recitations. He swore that never again would he sleep on a bed. ‘Abd al-’Azīz ibn Rawwād used to go to his bed when night had fallen, saying as he stroked it with his hand: ‘You are soft indeed, but by God there is in Paradise a softer one than you!’ Then he would spend the whole night in Prayer. Said al-Fuḍayl: ‘I approach the night at the outset and the length of it appals me; then I start on the Quran and it is already morning before I have satisfied my craving.’
Said al-Ḥasan: ‘A man commits a sin and because of it he is deprived of night vigil.’ Al-Fuḍayl said: ‘If you are incapable of keeping night vigil and of Fasting by day, you must know that you are under interdiction because of your many faults.’ Ṣila ibn Ashyam, may God grant him His mercy, used to pray throughout the night. Shortly before dawn he would say: ‘My God, it is not for the likes of me to ask for Paradise, but deliver me by Your mercy from the Fire!’ A man said to one of the wise: ‘I am really too weak to keep night vigil.’ So the wise man told him: ‘My brother, do not disobey God, Exalted is He, and you need not stay up at night.’
Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ had a slave-girl, whom he sold to some people. This slave-girl got up in the middle of the night, crying: ‘People of the house, Prayers, Prayers!’ They said: ‘Is it morning already? Has the dawn broken?’ Said she: ‘Do you mean to say you only observe the five set Prayers?’ When they said yes, she went back to al-Ḥasan, saying: ‘Master, would you sell me to people who only observe the set Prayers? Take me back!’ So he took her back.
Said al-Rabī’: I spent many nights in the house of al-Shāfi’ī, may God be pleased with him, and he never slept more than a very short part of the night.’ Abūl Juwayrīya said: ‘I kept company with Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with him, for six months and there was not one night in all that time when he laid his side on the ground.’ Abū Ḥanīfa used to stay awake half the night, but as he was passing some people he heard them say: ‘This man stays awake the whole night,’ so he retorted: ‘I am ashamed to be credited with something I do not do.’ From then on he took to staying awake all night long. It is related too that he had no bedding for the night.
They say that Mālik ibn Dīnār, may God be pleased with him, spent the whole night through till morning repeating this Verse:
‘Or do those who commit bad deeds suppose that We shall make them like those who believe and do good works …’ [al-Jāthiyah, 45:21]
(Am ḥasiba-lladhīna-jtaraḥū-lsayyi’āti an naj’alahum kalladhīna āmanū wa-’amilū-lṣālihāt.)
Said al-Mughīra ibn Ḥabīb: ‘I noticed Mālik ibn Dīnār performing ablution after the late evening Prayer, then he went and stood at his place of Prayer. He took hold of his beard, and choking with tears, began to say: “My God, preserve Mālik’s grey hairs from the Fire! You know the inhabitant of Paradise from the inhabitant of Hell-fire, so which of the two is Malik?” He went on saying this till break of day. Mālik ibn Dīnār also said: “One night I went to sleep, forgetting my recitations. In my dreams I found myself with a most beautiful girl. In her hand she held a piece of paper and asked me: ‘Can you read well?’ When I told her I could, she handed me the paper, on which these lines were written:
Have pleasures and desires distracted you from Paradise with maidens fair and sweet?
There you shall dwell eternally and sport with all the lovely ladies you shall meet.
From dreams awake and – better far than sleep – recite Quran until the dawn you greet.”’
It is said that when Masrūq went on Pilgrimage he spent every night prostrating himself in worship. And it is related on the authority of Azhar ibn Mughīth (one of those devoted to constant Prayer) that he said: ‘I dreamt I saw a woman unlike earthly women, so I said to her: “Who are you?” and she replied: “One of the maidens of Paradise.” I then asked her to marry me and she said: “Put your proposal to my master, and pay me my dower.” “And what is your dower?” I asked. “Long Prayers of night vigil,” she replied.’
Yusuf ibn Mihrān said: ‘I have heard that beneath the Throne there is an angel in the shape of a cock. Its talons are of pearl and its spurs of green topaz. When the first third of the night has passed it flaps its wings, crows and says: “Let those who get up arise!” When half the night is gone by it again flaps its wings, crows and says: “Let those who keep vigil arise!” Then when two-thirds of the night have passed it once more flaps its wings, crows and says: “Let those who pray arise!” Finally, when dawn breaks it flaps its wings, crows and says: “Let the heedless arise, bearing the weight of their sins!”’
They say that Wahb ibn Munabbih al-Yamānī never laid his side on the ground in thirty years, and that he used to say: ‘I would rather see a devil in my house than a pillow, for that is an invitation to sleep.’ He had a leather cushion, on which he would place his breast when sleep overpowered him. After nodding a few times he would then make haste to pray. Someone said: ‘I saw the Lord of Glory in a dream and heard Him say: “By My Glory and Majesty, I shall surely honour the abode of Sulaymān al-Taymī, for he has prayed to me each morning for forty years without breaking his ablution made for late evening prayer.”’ He is said to have held the view that when sleep penetrates the heart it invalidates the ritual ablution.
In one of the ancient scriptures, these words are attributed to God, Exalted is He: ‘My servant who is truly My servant is he who does not wait for the cock to crow before he gets up.’
* Some say this refers to the night vigil, when the aid of patience must be sought in the struggle with the tower self.