Whoever was in I‘tikāf with me should stay in I‘tikāf the last ten; for I was informed of that night, but I was then made to forget it. I saw myself prostrating in water and mud in its morning. So, seek it in the last ten

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform I‘tikāf in the middle ten days of Ramadan, in pursuit of Laylat al-Qadr. One year, he stayed as usual in I‘tikāf up to the night of the twenty-first (of Ramadan). On the morning of that night, he was supposed to end his I‘tikāf. However, he learned that Laylat al-Qadr would be in the last ten nights.

So he told his Companions who stayed in I‘tikāf with him the middle ten nights to continue their I‘tikāf the last ten nights. He also told them that Allah, the Almighty, showed him Laylat al-Qadr in his sleep, but later made him forget which night it was. However, in that year he saw in his sleep a sign of that night, which was his prostration in the morning prayer on water and mud.

Allah fulfilled the vision of His Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and it rained on the night of the twenty-first. The mosque of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was built like a lattice; its pillars were made of palm trunks and its roof made of palm stalks and fronds. Therefore, the roof leaked from rain, and the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prostrated on water and mud in prayer on the morning of the twenty-first.