English Translation

Yahya ibn Sa'id told us, from Ikrimah ibn Ammar, Abu Zumayl Simak al-Hanafi told me, Malik ibn Marthad ibn Abd Allah al-Zimmani told me, my father Marthad told me, who said: I asked Abu Dharr, I said: "Did you ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about the Night of Decree?" He said: "I was the one who most asked the people about it." He said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell me about the Night of Decree — is it in Ramadan or in another month?" He said: "Rather it is in Ramadan." I said: "Does it remain with the prophets as long as they live, and when they are taken it is lifted, or does it remain until the Day of Resurrection?" He said: "Rather it remains until the Day of Resurrection." I said: "In which part of Ramadan is it?" He said: "Seek it in the first ten nights or the last ten." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke and spoke of other matters, and then I seized the opportunity and caught him off guard and said: "In which twenty is it?" He said: "Seek it in the last ten; do not ask me about anything after this." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke and spoke of other matters, and then I seized the opportunity and caught him off guard again, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I adjure you by my right upon you, tell me in which part of the ten it is." He said: So he became angry with me with an anger the like of which he had not shown since I had accompanied him — or a phrase like that. He said: "Seek it in the last seven; do not ask me about anything after this."