What to say if you find the Night
Aisha asked the practical question.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ كَرِيمٌ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Allāhumma innaka ʿafuwwun karīmun tuḥibbu-l-ʿafwa fa-ʿfu ʿannī
“O Allah, You are the Pardoner, generous, You love to pardon, so pardon me.”
Recited widely in the last ten nights of Ramadan.
Where this comes from
She did not ask how to find Laylat al-Qadr. She asked what to say if she did. And of everything that could be asked on the best night of the year, he taught her to ask to be let off. ʿAfw is not forgiveness that remembers. It is erasure.
The full narration
Aishah narrated:“I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is your view if I know when the Night of Al-Qadr is, then what should I say in it?” He said: ‘Say: “O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning, [Generous,] You love pardon, so pardon me (Allāhumma innaka `Afuwwun [Karīmun], tuḥibbul-`afwa fa`fu `annī).’”
Source
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī · 3513
- Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih
- Al-Albani: Sahih
- Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih
- Zubair Ali Zai: Daif
Note on the chain. Scholars differ on this chain. Zubair Ali Zai grades it Daif. The majority (3 of 4) authenticate it.
Read it at the source ↗