صحیح مسلم · Hadith 2773

Abu Salama reported: 'We discussed amongst ourselves Lailat-ul-Qadr. I came to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) who was a friend of mine and said to him: Would you not go with us to the garden of date trees? He went out with a cloak over him. I said to him: Did you hear the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) making mention of Lailat-ul-Qadr? He said: Yes, (and added) we were observing i'tikaf with the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) in the middle ten days of Ramadan, and came out on the morning of the twentieth and the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) addressed us and said: I was shown Lailat-ul-Qadr, but I forgot (the exact night) or I was caused to forget it, so seek it in the last ten odd (nights), and I was shown that I was prostrating in water and clay. So he who wanted to observe i'tikaf with the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) should return (to the place of i'tikaf). He (Abu Sa'id al-Khudri) said: And we returned and did not find any patch of cloud in the sky. Then the cloud gathered and there was (so heavy) a downpour that the roof of the mosque which was made of the branches of date-palms began to drip. Then there was prayer and I saw the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) prostrating in water and clay till I saw the traces of clay on his forehead.

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020