Musnad Ahmad

Zirr says that Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: “Can a person who stands (in prayer) the whole year attain Laylat al-Qadr?” I went to Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) with the intention of meeting one of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from among the Muhajirun and Ansar. Thus, I stayed close to Ubayy bin Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him). These two would get up after sunset and pray two rak’ahs before Maghrib. There was a little sternness in the temperament of Ubayy (may Allah be pleased with him). I said to him, “May Allah’s mercy descend upon you, be kind to me, I want to benefit from you.” He said, “Do you want to not leave any verse of the Qur’an without asking me about it?” I said to Ubayy bin Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him): “Your brother Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that whoever stands (in prayer) the whole year can attain Laylat al-Qadr?” Ubayy (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “May Allah’s mercy descend upon him, he knows that Laylat al-Qadr is in the month of Ramadan, and it is the twenty-seventh night, but he wants to keep it hidden from the people so that they do not rely on it and become complacent.” Then he swore by the One who sent down the Book upon Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): “Laylat al-Qadr is the twenty-seventh night of Ramadan.” I said, “O Abu al-Mundhir! How do you know this?” He said: “By the sign that has been told to us: on the morning of that night, when the sun rises, it has no rays.” So, Asim would not eat suhoor on that day; when they had prayed Fajr, they would climb to the roof and look at the sun, and at that time it would have no rays until it became bright and rose high.