
Genre: nasheed, munshidType: nasheed
Story & Cultural Context
This devotional Arabic nasheed focuses on Laylatul Qadr, the spiritually significant Night of Decree described in the Quran. Its English subtitle, “The Greatest Night of the Year,” emphasizes the night’s exceptional religious importance, but no verified detailed backstory or commissioning context…
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Story & Cultural Context
This devotional Arabic nasheed focuses on Laylatul Qadr, the spiritually significant Night of Decree described in the Quran. Its English subtitle, “The Greatest Night of the Year,” emphasizes the…
Titles in Other Languages
العربيةليلة القدر
EnglishThe Greatest Night of the Year
Lyrics
Now, what does Laylatul Qadr mean? What is the meaning of Qadr? There are four meanings given in the classical books and all of them are valid. The first meaning of Laylatul Qadr, Qadr here means, the first meaning is significance, Qadr. Even in other languages, in Urdu, Qadr means Sha'an, it's a great person of great rank. So Laylatul Qadr, the night of significance, the night of glory, the night that is very important. So the one night of the year that is more important than all nights is Laylatul Qadr. So the first meaning of Laylatul Qadr, the night of Qadr, the night of Sha'an, the night of significance. The second meaning of Laylatul Qadr is the same meaning that it is a night of significance, but the one who worships Allah will be the one who will become significant. So Laylatul Qadr, the night of significance, but now it doesn't apply to the night in the second meaning. It applies to the one who worships Allah. You want to become significant in the eyes of Allah, you want to have Qadr in the eyes of Allah, you want to raise your ranks, then on this night, worship Allah. And you will be of those who have Qadr. So Laylatul Qadr, the night to get an upgrade, the night to be raised up. This is Laylatul Qadr. The third meaning of Qadr that is mentioned in the books, and all of these are valid, is that Qadr also means to be tight and restricted. Whoever's rizq is constricted, it's tight. So Laylatul Qadr, the night of tightness or constriction. Why is Laylatul Qadr called the night of tightness or restriction? Because the quantity of angels that come down on that one night makes the entire horizons packed with the angels. There's no space for them. There's no space for the angels. So it is called Laylatul Qadr. And of course, Allah mentions, All of the angels come down, or we shouldn't say all because some angels do not, but a lot of the angels, they come down. And Jibreel himself, and Jibreel himself comes down. And this is a very significant point, because Jibreel is the greatest of all angels, like our Prophet ﷺ is the greatest of prophets. Jibreel is the greatest of angels. And Jibreel no longer visits this earth because there are no more prophets. But there's one night that he comes down. There's one night that he comes down. And that is the night of Qadr. The entire year, Jibreel has no need to come down anymore. There are no more prophets. But the one night that the very angel who communicated with our Prophet ﷺ, he communicated with Isa, with Jesus, with Moses, with Abraham, with Noah. He communicated with every single prophet. That great angel, the mere witnessing of Jibreel, was given as a miracle to the Prophet ﷺ. Allah says, he has seen our magnificent miracle. Means the Prophet ﷺ saw Jibreel. Seeing Jibreel was a miracle that the Prophet ﷺ was given. That angel is coming to earth on the night of Qadr. What a magnificent night. And the whole horizons are packed with angels. The whole night, the angels are coming down. And so Laylatul Qadr, the night of no space, the night of jam-packed angels, that's what Qadr means. And then the fourth position or opinion of Qadr is the most commonly understood one. And this is the most obvious one as well. That Qadr here is the sixth pillar of Iman. We believe in Qadr, khayrihi wa sharrihi, predestination. Laylatul Qadr, the night of predestination. Why? Because on this particular night of Laylatul Qadr, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala announces the Qadr to the angels. And so we want to be in the best state, hoping that our prayer and our dua will impact our Qadr. On that night, every single matter is decided. Fiha, on the Laylatul Qadr, yufraqu kullu amrin hakeem. Every wise matter is decided. Amram min indina, this is our command. This is how we have legislated it. This is what we're going to do. That on Laylatul Qadr, we will decide all matters. Now, of course, our scholars say, the decision is not made on Laylatul Qadr, but the decision is announced on Laylatul Qadr for the upcoming year. And it is announced to the mala'il a'la, to the highest group of angels. It is announced to the creation of Allah that is in the upper world, that's the angels. So they are told of Allah's Qadr for the upcoming year. Not that Allah Azawajal will, as they say, make up. No, Allah Azawajal doesn't make up His mind. Allah knows from pre-eternity what's going to happen. But on Laylatul Qadr, the announcements are made, the responsibilities are tasked out to the angels for the upcoming year. As Ibn Abbas said, that on Laylatul Qadr, it is possible that a person is preparing his bed, and he doesn't even know that the announcement has come that he shall die that year. As Ibn Abbas said, it's possible he's preparing his bed, he doesn't even know. And on that day, Allah's decision will be announced that so-and-so will die, and he is oblivious because he's not worshipping Allah on that day. So the point is, because it is the time of announcement, we should engage in the worship of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is the whole point, brothers and sisters, that dua affects qadr. Our Prophet ﷺ said, hadith is in Abu Dawud, nothing changes qadr other than dua. Nothing changes qadr other than dua. Memorize this hadith. Nothing changes qadr other than dua. So when the qadr is announced, we want to be in dua, we want to be in sajda, we want to be in prayer, because we want to have the best year that's going to come up. So we prayed to Allah on that night to give us the best of this world and the next. And that is why it is called Laylatul Qadr.