Laylat al-Qadr — the Night of Decree — is described in the Qur'an as 'better than a thousand months' (Surah al-Qadr 97:3). It falls in the last ten nights of Ramadan, most likely on one of the odd nights. Aisha (RA), the Mother of the Believers, asked the Prophet ﷺ what she should say if she found this night. His answer is one of the most beautiful and concise duas in the entire Sunnah.
The Laylat al-Qadr dua
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Allahumma innaka 'Afuwwun tuhibbul-'afwa fa'fu 'anni.
O Allah, indeed You are All-Pardoning, You love to pardon — so pardon me.
(Jami at-Tirmidhi 3513 — narrated by Aisha (RA), graded Sahih)
Why this exact wording
Notice the Prophet ﷺ did not teach Aisha (RA) to ask for wealth, marriage, children or worldly gain on the most blessed night of the year. He taught her to ask for 'afw — pardon. 'Afw is greater than maghfirah (forgiveness) — it means Allah erases the sin so completely that not even its trace remains in the record. On the night when 'every wise affair is decreed' (Surah ad-Dukhan 44:4), the believer asks for the one thing that secures Paradise.
How to spend Laylat al-Qadr
- Pray Tarawih and Qiyam al-Layl — stand in prayer through the night.
- Recite the Qur'an, especially Surah al-Qadr and the last juz'.
- Repeat the dua of Aisha (RA) hundreds of times — between salah, in sujud, in the breaks.
- Make personal dua for forgiveness, family, the Ummah, the oppressed, and your own deepest needs.
- Increase istighfar (Sayyid al-Istighfar is excellent), salawat on the Prophet ﷺ, and dhikr.
- Search for Laylat al-Qadr on all the odd nights of the last ten — 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th — as the Prophet ﷺ instructed.
Hadith reference
The dua is in Jami at-Tirmidhi (3513), Sunan Ibn Majah (3850) and Musnad Ahmad on the authority of Aisha (RA). Imam at-Tirmidhi graded it Sahih. The verses about Laylat al-Qadr are in Surah al-Qadr (97:1-5) and Surah ad-Dukhan (44:3-4).