My father رضي الله عنه narrated to us, saying that ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar al-Ḥimyarī narrated to him among others, saying that Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Abī’l-Khaṭṭāb narrated to him among others, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Ḥamza b. Ḥumrān, from Abī ʿAbd Allāh عليه السلام, who said: “When it was the fifteenth night of Shaʿbān, al-Ḥumayrāʾ —that is, ʿĀʾisha—supposed that the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله had stood up to visit some of his other wives. She followed him into their homes due to a jealousy she could not bear. By Allāh, she wrapped herself in a shawl that was neither silk, nor brocade, nor linen, nor cotton, but its warp was of camel hair and its weft of palm fiber. She stood up and went searching for the Messenger of Allāh in the rooms of his other wives, one by one. As she was doing so, she saw the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله prostrating, as if he were a garment spread flat on the face of the earth. She drew closer to him and heard him saying: “To You I prostrate, as do my body and my soul. My heart believes in You. These are my hands, by which I have wronged myself. O’ Exalted One, Who is the hope of all exalted ones, forgive me my cardinal sin, for none forgive cardinal sins but the Exalted One.” Then the Prophet raised his head and returned to prostration, and she heard him saying: “I seek refuge in the light of Your Face, Which illuminates the heavens and the earths, removes the darknesses, and sets aright the affairs of the first and the last, from Your sudden punishment, the transformation of Your well-being, and the removal of Your blessing. O’ Allāh, grant me a heart that is righteous, pure, free from polytheism, neither disbelieving nor wretched.” Then the Prophet placed his cheek on the dirt and said: “Forgive me while my face is in the dirt, for it is only right that I prostrate to You.” Just as the Prophet intended to leave, ʿĀʾisha ran to her bed. The Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله came to her bed and noticed that she was breathing heavily, so he said to her: “What is this heavy breathing? Do you not know what night this is? This is the middle night of Shaʿbān, in which lifespans are recorded and sustenance is apportioned. Allāh عز وجل forgives more of His creation on this night than the number of woolly hairs on the sheep of Banī Kalb. Allāh عز وجل sends down His angels to the lowest heaven and to the earth, at Mecca.” It is correct with the Ahl al-Bayt عليهم السلام that lifespans are recorded and sustenance apportioned on the Night of Power, which is the twenty-third night of the month of Ramaḍān.
