حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّی حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْأَعْلَی أَخْبَرَنَا سَعِيدٌ عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْتَمِسُوهَا فِي الْعَشْرِ الْأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ وَالْتَمِسُوهَا فِي التَّاسِعَةِ وَالسَّابِعَةِ وَالْخَامِسَةِ قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا أَبَا سَعِيدٍ إِنَّکُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِالْعَدَدِ مِنَّا قَالَ أَجَلْ قُلْتُ مَا التَّاسِعَةُ وَالسَّابِعَةُ وَالْخَامِسَةُ قَالَ إِذَا مَضَتْ وَاحِدَةٌ وَعِشْرُونَ فَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا التَّاسِعَةُ وَإِذَا مَضَی ثَلَاثٌ وَعِشْرُونَ فَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا السَّابِعَةُ وَإِذَا مَضَی خَمْسٌ وَعِشْرُونَ فَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا الْخَامِسَةُ قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُد لَا أَدْرِي أَخَفِيَ عَلَيَّ مِنْهُ شَيْئٌ أَمْ لَا
سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 1383
Narrated Abu Saeed al-Khudri: The Prophet ﷺ said: Seek it (laylat al-Qadr) in the last ten days of Ramadan. Seek it on the ninth, seventh and fifth night. I (Abu Nadrah) said: You know counting better than us, Abu Saeed. He said: Yes. I asked: What do you mean by the ninth, seventh and fifth night? He said: When the twenty-first night passes, the night which follows it is the night; when the twenty-third night passes, the night which follows it is the seventh; when the twenty-fifth passes, the night which follows it is the fifth. Abu Dawud said: I do not know whether anything remained hidden from me or not.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020