 I'll pray to Allah and we ask Him and we thank Him and we seek from Him and we are dependent on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we show gratitude towards Him. We ask Him to send His infinite peace and blessings upon our teacher and our master and our prince, the Seal of the Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. We have entered like the middle of Ramadan and now we've let this month marinate and become a part of our lives and become habitual and we've gotten used to the routine of Ramadan that it brings towards us. And Ramadan comes as a guest, it comes as a guest and we are honored to host this guest that we call the month of Ramadan and Allah ta'ala when He explains Ramadan, He says He calls them a couple of days, a few days, a number of days, a yam and yawm in Arabic has a plethora of meanings. Generally, we talk about a day, but it's used in like the hadith mustalahat as multiple things like the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, a shaharak al-yawm in the end of times, a month would be like a week. So yawm here means week. It also means phases, right? Remember the phases of Allah, the phases of God, Allah says in the Qur'an. And you also have things like a thousand years sometimes like yawm, like Imam Suyuti calls a yawm. He says it could mean a thousand years when we're talking about the day of judgment or the or our eschatology at the end of times. But our guests in when we deal with each other, we talk about days and you have three days when you're a guest in somebody's home. Three days you're a guest and after that you're part of the household. But when Ramadan comes, it also only comes for three days. It comes for three phases. The beginning of it is mercy. The middle of it is forgiveness. And the end of it is freedom from the hellfire. It comes as a guest. So how do you treat your guests when it's when your guest is there? You give it karama. You give it takaluf. You give them generosity. You go over beyond even the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. When the guests of Ramadan came, he would tighten his belt in prayer. He would wake up his wives, which he never did outside of Ramadan, right? He would wake up his wives to pray tahajjud with him. And the alul bayt al kiram, he would wake them up to pray, which he never did outside. But because the guest is coming, you have to feed the guest. You have to feed Ramadan. So when you welcome the guest, the sunnah of any guest, when they leave, is they leave a small gift for you. When you go to somebody's home, you say there, the sunnah of adab is that you bring a gift to them and you leave a gift with them before you leave. And Ramadan leaves as a gift. We don't know when that gift is, but we know there is a gift in Ramadan and that's lailat al qadr. It gives you a small token. And lailat al qadr, khayru min alfi shahr. It's the month, it's a day that's better than a thousand months. It's better than a thousand months and it has parochial names. There are five things in the Quran that have what we call parochial names, like primary names that everything has, that Allah sends. Lailat al qadr has a primary name. He has al qadr. What does qadr mean? It means power. It means decree. It means degree. It also means to value something, the night of value. It also means to constrict. When Allah constricts their risk, they say, oh my lord has disgraced me. It means to give something a measure. They haven't given Allah his measure. That's lailat al qadr. That's the first name of lailat al qadr. It's also called lailat al-salam. That peace is upon them until the fadr time comes. It's also called lailat al-mubarak in Surat al-Dukhan. We have sent this Quran on a blessed night. Lailat al-mubarak. It's also called furqan, the night of differentiation. You furrqu qullu amrin. That it's a night where all things are differentiated. Good and evil, virtue and vice. They're differentiated on this night. And it's also called the night of mercy. Rahmatumi rabbikum. Innuhus samil aleem. That this is a mercy from your lord. He's all hearing and all seeing. These are the five names of lailat al qadr. And it was sent upon the one, sallallahu alayhi wassalam, who gave himself five parochial names. I'm Muhammad. He said, I'm Muhammad. What, Ahmad? And the most praiseworthy. Wa-l mahi, ana mahi, alladhi yumhi allahu bi kufrin. I'm the one that Allah gave revelation to. He calls himself al-hashir, the fourth name. The one that gathers, the great gathers, sallallahu alayhi wassalam. Wa-anahashir, alladhi hashir an nasa qadmi. I'm the one that gathers people and they follow me and lead people, sallallahu alayhi wassalam. And he's al-aqib. He's the seal of prophets. He's the ending, sallallahu alayhi wassalam. He's the end of prophecy. These are five names, which was revealed upon the city that Allah gives five names to in the Qur'an. Makkah, right? Wa-aitu indukum bi batin al-makkah. Allah calls it Makkah in the Qur'an. Then he calls it bakkah. Awul al-bayt, wada' al-nas. Alladhi bil-bakkah, right? Like the first place where people are given the place of establishment is bakkah. He calls it bayt al-haram. Allah calls it bayt al-ameen. Balad al-ameen, right? Balad al-ameen. He calls it umul qurrah. These are the five names that are in the Qur'an of Makkah. And that was revealed. What was revealed and what was being revealed is the Book of Allah that's given five parochial names. The Qur'an, al-kitab, right? Al-furqan, an-noor and a zikr. Five names that you find about that the Qur'an is named in the, Allah names the Qur'an. These five names. So these five things, the five names of laiblat al-qadr which was revealed in the city which has these five names which was revealed upon these, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam the master of humanity that is given five parochial names and he was given the book that has five names and they're all realized when you and I pray our five daily prayers. They all come full circle. They all come full circle because all of that, that prayer is revealed in Makkah upon the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam you recite the Qur'an which is revealed in laiblat al-qadr. All happens in these fives, right? And it brings for them in order to understand that it brings with it and its gifts through having sound iman. Having sound iman, having faith. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told us manqama Ramadan iman wa hatisabun wa firaluhum, ma taqaddumat bi dhanbihi wa ma taqarat Whosoever stands with faith, with iman and expecting a reward, God forgives them for what they've done and what they're going to do. What is iman in this regard? Iman is being a reciprocal of light. It's just being a reciprocal of light. If you want the treasures of Ramadan, if you want the treasures of laiblat al-qadr, you have to open your heart with sound faith and allow yourself to be a recipient of that light. One of the names for laiblat al-qadr is the night that which is constricted. Why is it called the night of constriction? It's one of the meanings of qadr. Because So many angels are on earth that night including the Ruh who is Sayyidina Jibreel himself that they have no place to move on this earth. They can't move with so many angels around that the angels themselves feel constricted on that night. Which is a night that Allah SWT brings forth the heavens onto us. You know, we are with the heavens on that night if you have iman, if you have iman, and that light enters your heart. One of the signs of laiblat al-qadr that you seek is that it's It's this medium night. It's not too hot, it's not too cold. And when the sun rises, what do you see? That it has al-hamra al-saghir. It's like a rayless, almost no rays around the light. Some of the muhadithin say, this is obviously haqiqi, you can see it, but the majazi meaning of it, the inward meaning, the symbolic meaning, is that the light of the sun is dwarfed in front of the light that enters the hearts of the believers on that night. The light of the sun is dwarfed in front of the light of the believers on that night. It's the power of laiblat al-qadr. This is the power of laiblat al-qadr. And you and me don't exactly know when laiblat al-qadr is. Abu Huraira said that the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said laiblat al-qadr is in the last night of Ramadan. And they prayed the last night. So they said, is this laiblat al-qadr, ya Rasulullah? Awal al-haadi laiblat al-qadr? He said, no, it's not laiblat al-qadr. And they said, but why did you say the last night? Doesn't the worker only get his wage due at the end of the month? Ya laiblat al-qadr, as you have Himasa enthusiasm for laiblat al-qadr in the last ten nights, you should give laiblat al-qadr its due in the beginning of Ramadan. In the beginning of Ramadan, and in the middle of Ramadan, and in the end of Ramadan, to bear its fruits for after Ramadan. To bear its fruits for after Ramadan. And when you become a recipient of that light, when you become a recipient of that light, Allah's iraadah, His want, what He wants will become what you want. And this is the million dollar question for myself and for you is, are you ready to receive Allah's light on that night, that if a mountain received that light, which is the Quran, it will crumble, and I'm ready to receive that. And submit to the reality of what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants from their believers. Do you want what Allah wants? Does that light enter your heart and you recognize what God Himself wants from you and from me? What is your purpose when laiblat al-qadr comes? What are you asking from Allah? What are you asking from Allah? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the hadith qudsi, a hadith that's narrated by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, I have a want, iraadah, and you have a want. I do whatever I want. If you want what I want, what you and I want would naturally become what I want. Asbaha ma'urit. You'll become whatever I want. But if you neglect what I want, you will ta'aba nafsika. You would strive against yourself with a tire, seeking the thing that you want that I don't want, but nothing will happen except what I want. And this is a great secret of the iraadah of Allah. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He makes what we want, what He wants what we want in these last days. And our iraadah with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is aligned. And we are open and generous with the month of Ramadan, such that this month gives us its colors. And our hearts are open to receiving the gifts of this month and the fruits of this month and the light that this month gives us. I pray, I urge myself, I advise myself, I advise all of you, I advise our community that as Ramadan comes, that we take on the colors of Allah. We take on the colors of the Prophet ﷺ. We take on the colors of this month, right? These months bring for it. When you enter Ramadan, the world is black and white. When you're in Ramadan, you start seeing the world in technicolor again. All the things that you appreciate, all the things you take for granted, all of the ni'mahs of Allah, all the blessings of Allah, they become more apparent to us. It becomes more technicolor for us to see and to see this thing as what it is. And this is to take on the akhlaq of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the hadith, khulliqul akhlaqullah, right? Imam Ghazali says, when you're not eating and not fasting, you take on what's called the station, called asamadiyah, of in exhaustion, right? Because we don't eat and we don't drink in Ramadan. And we don't procreate Ramadan. And this is the station of the angels. They don't do either of these things either, right? This is the station of the melaika. That we take on these beautiful colors that the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, has presented for us. Sibgatullah wa ma ahsan min Allahi Sibgah, the painting of Allah, the colors of Allah, and what is more beautiful than the painting of Allah, than the colors of Allah? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us colors and he's given us an empty canvas and he's given us a brush and he's given us a paint. What a portrait are we gonna make? We have to make something that is beautiful and that is to show this entire world and this dunya, the glad tidings of the garden. What is Allah's irada? Allah tells us smack in the middle of the verse of the fiqh of Ramadan, where he tells us how to fast. Allah has an irada for us. Yuridullahu bikum yusr wa la yuridu bikum usr. Allah wants ease for you. It doesn't want difficulty for you. Fakhardin al-razi, he said, yusr is paradise and usr is this dunya. That the difficulty is dunya that we were not made for this world. Allah is telling us in this month that you were not made for this world. Allah is telling us in Layla the Qadr you were not made for this world, you were made for the garden. So come to the garden. You were made for this garden. And if Allah wants that yusr for us, what do we want for the rest of humanity? Whatever Allah wants for you, you should want for everybody. You know, we warn about, we give glad tidings about the basketball game. We give glad tidings about where the things that the new technology that's going to come. We give glad tidings about we're going energy this. We give warning about all of these different wars that are happening. We ask Allah for relief. We give warning about, you know, what's in the food and what's not in the food and these chemicals which are all important things. But ultimately we give the glad tidings of the garden and we warn about the fire. We give the glad tidings about the garden and we warn about the fire. Because this is what Allah wants from us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants the garden for you. You read Allah who become yusr, wa la yuridu bi kum yusr. Allah wants ease for you. He wants facilitation for you. That you start to facilitate the garden for people. And I'll end with the hadith that we're familiar with perhaps that a man comes to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and he says yā rasūlillā halaktu, halaktu. O Messenger of Allah, I am ruined, I'm ruined. Meaning I'm going to hell. It means I'm ruined, I'm literally I'm going to hell. And al-Habib sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in his most beautiful gentle way says ma halaktu, what? What has ruined you? He said wa qaatu imratī wa anasā'im. He said I was with my wife and I was in a state of fasting. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said are you able to free emancipate a slave? Al-tasṭate al-antāṭiq al-ruqtā are you able to emancipate a slave? He said emancipate a slave, I can't afford that. I don't even know what. I can't do that. He said, no, I can't do that. And he said, okay, al-tasṭate al-tasūma al-tasūma al-tasūma al-tābī'ī'īn. Can you fast two consecutive months? This is a kafara. Can you fast two consecutive months? One of the ayahs says yār-usul, I couldn't even last a day, two months, I couldn't last one day. He said, can you fast two consecutive months? He said, no. He said, okay. He said, then can you feed the indigent? Can you feed the indigent? Can you feed 60 poor people? He said, yār-usul allāhu man afqud minni. He said, I'm poor. I'm poor, I can't feed 60 poor people. Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam could have easily said, I'm sorry, it's too bad. Look, it's in the Qur'an. It's tough, tough luck. You might have to, I don't know, the fire it might be a little, you know, say, make a lot of taubah, maybe you'll be forgiven? Allāhu alam? No, he said, he ordered fat'alaba atamr. He asked for a bag of dates. And he said, go feed people. Here, here's a gift, go feed people with this. And in one narration, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the man leaves for a little bit and he comes back and he says, O messengers of Allah, as I was taking these dates, I realized that my family is the poorest family in Medina. My family is the poorest family in the city. And Habib sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, al-ta'am ahlaka, go feed your family. Just go feed your family. This is facilitating the garden. He facilitated jannah for him. He facilitated the yusr of Allah. This is what the fuqah do. This is what our religion is all about. Facilitating jannah for each other. Facilitating the garden. Facilitating the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That being a means of facilitation, not the means of the fire. We're not the firewall between human beings and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We're not the firewall between people. If they ask about me, I am present. I am close. I am close, meaning I've never gone anywhere. I've never gone anywhere. Allah's saying, I've been here. I indeed I am close. I answer to one, let them just call me. This is the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is facilitating the garden for people. This is opening the door of jannah for people. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And please bless it nice. Ya'arhum ar-rahimin. Ya'akram al-akramin. Ya'awil bilabida ya'aqir bilaniha ya'man lahu ism bilakunya. Farrrja anna wa anin jameel al-muslimu lahafi. Yanzal ania fi haithi haathihisa. Barakatika wa afwitika wa halwati al-makti. Al-Dakya, yada al-jalali wa al-iqram. Allahumma aghfala wa li walidaya wa al-mu'minina. Yawma yukhunu isab. Rabbana ja'alna mukheem al-sala wa min dhu riyad. Ya ayyuhaladin. Inna Allah wa malaikatahu yusalluhuna an-nabi. Ya ayyuhaladin. Aamunus sallu alayhi wa sallimun taslimin kathira. Yathkur Allah wa dhkurukum. Wa shkuruhu wa la tukafiruhu. Wa dhikr Allahi akbar. Wa la hawla wa la quta. Alla bil awliya ad-din. Wa qeem ussala.