Aḥmad b. Hārūn al-Fāmī رضي الله عنه narrated to us, saying that Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar b. Jāmiʿ narrated to him, from his father, from Hārūn b. Muslim, from Masʿada al-Ribʿī, from al-Ṣādiq, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad, from his father, from his forefathers عليهم السلام, who said that Amīr al-Muʾminīn عليه السلام delivered a sermon on the first day of the month of Ramaḍān, in the Great Mosque of Kufa, in which he praised Allāh with the highest praise, honour and eloquence, and commended Him with the most beautiful words of commendation, and then heaped salutations upon His Prophet, Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وعلى آله, and then he said: “O’ people! Indeed, the month at present is one which Allāh has favoured over all the other months as He has favoured us, the People of the House, over all other people. It is the month in which the gates of the sky and the gates of mercy are opened up, and the gates of the pits of Hell are shut. It is the month in which exclamations are heard, supplications are answered, and mercy is had upon he who weeps profusely. It is the month in which there is a night wherein angels descend from the sky to bear tidings of peace to the fasting men and fasting women, by the permission of their Lord, until the breaking of dawn. It is the Night of Power, in which my Divine authority was established two thousand years before the creation of Ādam عليه السلام. Fasting during its corresponding day is more virtuous than fasting for a thousand months, and the deeds done therein are more virtuous than similar deeds done for a thousand months. O’ people! The suns of the month of Ramaḍān rise upon the fasting men and the fasting women, and its moons shine upon them with mercy. There is neither a night nor a day of this month except that righteousness from Allāh تعالى is showered from the sky upon this community. So whoever triumphs with as much as a pearl’s worth of Allāh’s scattering of blessings will be honoured by Allāh on the day he meets Him, and the honour of Allāh upon a servant is not but that He makes Paradise his abode of dwelling. O’ servants of Allāh, this month of yours is not like other months—its days are the most virtuous days, its nights the most virtuous nights, and its hours the most virtuous hours—and it is the month in which the devils are fettered and incarcerated. It is the month in which Allāh increases provisions and extends terms, and has recorded whoever pays court at His House. This is the month wherein the people of belief are accepted with forgiveness, satisfaction, comfort and pleasure, and the appeasements of the Sovereign Judge. O’ faster! Consider your affairs, for you are in your month, a guest of your Lord, so consider how you will behave by night and by day, and how you keep your limbs from disobeying your Lord. See that you are not asleep in the night or heedless during the day, for in that case, your month will pass while your burdens remain, such that when the fasters’ thirst for Divine reward is quenched, you shall be among the losers, and when they receive their success with honour from their King, you shall be among the deprived, and when they experience bliss in the presence of their Lord, you will be among the expelled. O’ faster! If you are banished from the door to your King, then from which door shall you seek Him? If He forbids you, who then will provide you with your sustenance? If He humiliates you, who then will commend you? And if that happens, who then will honour you? If He abandons you, who then will support you? If He does not accept you among His servants, then to whom will you take your servitude? If He does not overlook your indiscretion, then to whom shall you turn, seeking forgiveness for your sin? And if He demands His right with you, what will your argument then be? O’ faster! Seek proximity to Allāh through the recitation of His Book throughout your days and nights, for indeed the Book of Allāh is an able intercessor on the Day of Reckoning for those who recited it. Reading its verses will cause their ascendancy through the ranks of Heaven, with glad tidings thereof. O’ faster! You are indeed in a month in which your fasting is a duty, your breathing is a glorification (of Allāh), your sleeping is worship, your obedience (to Allāh) is accepted and your sins are forgiven, your voices are heard, and your whispered invocations are subject to Divine mercy. And I have heard my beloved, the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله, saying: “Verily! For Allāh تبارك وتعالى, on every night of the month of Ramaḍān, at the time when fasts are completed, there are prospective detainees of Hellfire who Allāh frees—the number of whom is known to none but Allāh, included in His knowledge of the unseen—and when it is the last night of the month of Ramaḍān, He frees as many in that one night as He has done so in the rest of the month.” A man from Hamdan stood up and exclaimed: “O’ Amīr al-Muʾminīn! Narrate to us more of what your beloved has stated about the month of Ramaḍān!,” so the Imam obliged: “By all means! I have heard my brother, and the son of my paternal uncle, the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله, saying: “Whoever fasts in the month of Ramaḍān while restraining his soul from that which is prohibited will be granted admittance into Paradise.” The man from Hamdan again exclaimed: “O’ Amīr al-Muʾminīn! Narrate to us more of what your brother, and the son of your paternal uncle, has stated about the month of Ramaḍān!,” so the Imam said: “By all means! I have heard my confidante, the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, saying: “Whoever fasts in the month of Ramaḍān, with faith in and having accounted for its reward, shall be admitted into Paradise.” The Hamdanite said: “O’ Amīr al-Muʾminīn! Narrate to us more of what your confidante has stated about this month!,” so the Imam again obliged him thus: “By all means! I have heard the Liege of the first and the last generations, the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, saying: “Whoever fasts in Ramaḍān, and does not break his fast—on any of its evenings—with something that is prohibited, he shall be admitted into Paradise.” The Hamdanite then exclaimed: “O’ Amīr al-Muʾminīn! Narrate to us more of what the Liege of the first and the last generations has stated about this month!,” so the Imam replied: “By all means! I have heard the most virtuous among the Prophets and the Messengers, and the spiritually proximate angels, saying: “Verily, the Liege of the Inheritors shall be murdered in the Liege of all the months.” I asked: “O’ Messenger of Allāh, what is the Liege of all the months, and who is the Liege of the Inheritors?,” so he replied: “As for the Liege of all the months, that would be the month of Ramaḍān, and as for the Liege of the Inheritors, that would be you, o’ ʿAlī!,” so I said: “O’ Messenger of Allāh! Will that really occur?,” so he said: “Aye! By my Lord, indeed the most wretched of my community, kindred spirit to he who hamstrung the she-camel of Thamūd, shall be raised up, and then strike you with a strike between your horns until the blood flows from your beard!” The people who heard this took up weeping and wailing, while ʿAlī عليه السلام ended his sermon and descended (from the pulpit).