Surah Al-Qadr – Abdul Rashid Ali Sufi

Al-Qadr ("The Power", also rendered "The Decree") is the 97th surah of the Quran, in Juz' Amma. Meccan according to most scholars, it has 5 verses and is the 25th surah in the traditional order of revelation, after Abasa. It is named after Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Decree in which the Quran was sent down (97:1).

The surah extols that night: "The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months" (97:3). In it the angels and the Spirit, Gabriel, descend by their Lord's permission with every matter, and it is peace until the rise of dawn (97:4-5). Read with Al-Baqara, which says the Quran was revealed in Ramadan (2:185), it places this night in the month of fasting.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever stands in prayer on Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and seeking reward will have his past sins forgiven" (al-Bukhari, Muslim), and told his Companions to seek it in the odd nights of the last ten of Ramadan (al-Bukhari). He taught Aisha to say on it: "O God, You are pardoning and love to pardon, so pardon me" (at-Tirmidhi, hasan sahih).