The Night of Ordainment and its Sign

Does the Night of Ordainment [Laylatul Qadr] have a special sign of its own? Yes. In this post, I will post a tradition, which in addition to informing us about the sign of the Night of Ordainment, concisely, acquaints us further with this special night.

This tradition is saheeh.

:Arabic Text

أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ فَضَالَةَ بْنِ أَيُّوبَ عَنِ الْعَلَاءِ بْنِ رَزِينٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ عَنْ أَحَدِهِمَا ع قَالَ

سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ عَلَامَةِ لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ فَقَالَ عَلَامَتُهَا أَنْ تَطِيبَ رِيحُهَا وَ إِنْ كَانَتْ فِي بَرْدٍ دَفِئَتْ‏ وَ إِنْ كَانَتْ فِي حَرٍّ بَرَدَتْ فَطَابَتْ قَالَ وَ سُئِلَ عَنْ لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ فَقَالَ تَنْزِلُ فِيهَا الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَ الْكَتَبَةُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا فَيَكْتُبُونَ مَا يَكُونُ فِي أَمْرِ السَّنَةِ وَ مَا يُصِيبُ الْعِبَادَ وَ أَمْرُهُ عِنْدَهُ مَوْقُوفٌ لَهُ وَ فِيهِ الْمَشِيئَةُ فَيُقَدِّمُ مِنْهُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَ يُؤَخِّرُ مِنْهُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَ يَمْحُو وَ يُثْبِتُ وَ عِنْدَهُ أُمُّ الْكِتابِ‏ 

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Farsi Translation:

از ابو جعفر باقر (ع) و يا ابو عبد اللَّه صادق (ع) پرسيدم:

شب قدر، با چه علامتى شناخته مى‏ شود، آن سرور گفت: نشانه شب قدر آن است كه نسيم آن شب مطبوع و دلاويز مى‏ شود: اگر فصل سرما باشد، سوز سرما به گرمى مى‏ گرايد و اگر فصل گرما باشد، سوز گرما به سردى و خنكى مى‏ گرايد، به حدّى كه مطبوع مى‏ شود. يك نفر پرسيد كه در شب قدر، چه مسائلى تقدير مى‏ شود؟ آن سرور گفت: در شب قدر، فرشتگان و دبيران تا آخرين آسمان فرود مى ‏آيند و مقدّرات سال آينده را ثبت مى‏ كنند و مصائبى كه بر مردم نازل مى‏ شود، آمار مى‏ كنند. با وجود اين اجراى همه اين مقدّرات، متوقف بر خواست خداوند است: آن چه را بخواهد مقدّم مى‏ دارد و آنچه را بخواهد مؤخر مى‏ دارد. برخى از نوشته‏ ها را محو مى‏ كند و نوشته‏ هاى ديگرى مى ‏افزايد: منبع همه نوشته‏ ها نزد او است.

English Translation:

Narrated by Ahmed Ibn Mohamed from Al-Hussein Ibn Sa’eed from Fadhala Ibn Ayoub from Al-Alaa Ibn Razin from Mohamed Ibn Muslim from one of the two Imams (peace be upon them): 

I asked him regarding the sign of the Night of Ordainment.

He (as) replied, “It is signaled by a pleasant breeze. If it is cold, the breeze is warm. If it is hot, the breeze is cool and pleasant.”

He (as) was asked regarding the Night of Ordainment.

He (as) said: in it the angels and the scribes descend to the lower [or lowest or worldly] heavens. They record what the command [Amr] is for that year, what will befall the servants [of Allah] and what has been reserved [or commanded] for each [upcoming year]. On this night the [general] Will of God is done [or is in place]. So, He advances from it [from His general will] what He wills, and postpones from it [from His general Will] what He wills; He erases and preserves [or confirms], for His is the Mother Book [Ummol Kitab.]

Source

Al-kafi, Volume 4, Page 157, Tradition #3

There are a few interesting points that I noticed in this tradition. 

Firstly, in this tradition, we informed about the descending of the angels and scribes, whereas in the Quran, we are informed about the descending of the angels and The Spirit [97:4]. Moreover, the angels and the scribes are portrayed as two different entities, via the conjunction “and.” There is a common assumption that angels are the scribes. However, this tradition seems to imply otherwise. We neither know the nature of the angels nor the nature of the scribes. Nonetheless, this tradition provides us with an opportunity to think of them as two separate entities as opposed to one. This distinction may be quite useful for anyone who is deeply interested in the study of angels, The Spirit and the scribes.

Secondly, in this tradition we are informed a bit further regarding where the angels descend to on this night. They descend to the lowest [or worldly] heavens or the lowest skies. In the Quran, we learn that God has adorned the lowest [or worldly] heavens with lamps/lights [37:6][41:12][67:5].  Scholars have interpreted this verse to be referring to the stars that we see at night time. If these scribes and angels descend to this lowest [worldly] skies only on this special night, then they cannot be identical to those scribes that record our daily activities, which are commonly-believed to be on our right and left sides at all times. 

Finally, according to this tradition, God has the Mother Book, which He may use to either erase or confirm what has been written previously. This fact implies that whatever the scribes and the angels have written may be modified through the Mother Book. There is the decree book and there is also the Mother Book. If we the notion “book” to denote law and order, as opposed to regular books that we see daily, then we can realize that there is a hierarchy in place. There are higher-order laws, which may come into effect and modify lower-order laws.

If you have noticed more points in this tradition, please do not hesitate to mention them in the comment box. On the same note, if you are aware of other acceptable traditions that conflict with my notes in this post, please let me know and if needed, I will revise my notes.