English Translation of Al-Quran
[28].Surah Al-Qasas [The Narration]
Ayat 23. And when he arrived at the water of Madyan (Midian) he found there a group of men watering (their flocks), and besides them he found two women who were keeping back (their flocks). He said: “What is the matter with you?” They said: “We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take (their flocks). And our father is a very old man.”
Tafseer of Surah Al-Qasas (The Narration) Ayat 23. And when he arrived at the watering (place) in Madyan, he found there a group of men watering (their flocks), and besides them he found two women who were keeping back (their flocks). He said: “What is the matter with you?” They said: “We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take back (their flocks): And our father is a very old man.” The first thing that a wanderer in a desert would make for would be an oasis where he could get water from a spring or well, the shade of trees against the scorching sun, and some human company. The Midianite watering place was probably a deep well, as surface springs are rare in sandy desert, where the water level is low, unless there was a hill from which issued a spring. Here is a little idyll, told in the fewest and most beautiful words possible. Moses arrives, at an oasis in the desert, weary and travel-worn, with his mind full of anxiety and uncertainty owing to his recent experiences in Egypt . He was thirsty and would naturally seek water. At the well or spring he found shepherds (or perhaps goatherds) watering their flocks. As a stranger it was not for him to thrust himself among them. He waited under the shade of a tree until they should finish. He noticed two damsels, also waiting, with their flocks, which they had come to water. His chivalry was roused. He went at once among the goatherds, made a place for the flocks of the damsels, gave them water, and then resumed his place in the shade. They were modest maidens, and had given him in three Arabic words the key to the whole situation. Abuna shaykhun kabir our father is a very old man, and therefore cannot come to water the flocks; we therefore do the work; we could not very well trust ourselves among these men.
English Translation of Hadith
Hazrat Ubadah bin As-Samit (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) came out to inform us about the Night of Qadr but two Muslims were quarreling with each other. So, the Prophet said, “I came out to inform you about the Night of Qadr but such and such persons were quarreling, so the news about it had been taken away; yet that might be for your own good, so search for it on the 25th, 27th and 29th (of Ramadan).
[Al-Bukhari Volume 3, Book 32, Number 240]
Lesson : We learn from this Hadith that Suhur is a distinctive mark with which Allah has blessed the Muslim Ummah. We learn from this Hadith that Lailat-ul-Qadr occurs in any of the last three odd nights – 25th, 27th and 29th – of the last ten nights of Ramadan. Its exact date has not been revealed for the reason that people keep themselves awake for prayer for a larger number of nights. Had its date been fixed, people would have kept awake for prayer only on that night.