Signs of Laylatul Qadr: What the Authentic Hadith Say

Every Ramadan, lists of the signs of Laylatul Qadr spread from phone to phone: a calm night, a quiet sky, animals that fall silent. But which of these signs actually come from the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions? Here are the four authentic reports that describe them, what each one shows, and what they mean for how we spend the last ten nights.

1. The sun rises white, without rays

Zirr ibn Hubaysh heard the Companion Ubayy ibn Ka‘b (may Allah be pleased with him) swear which night it was, and the sign he gave for it:

This is the best-known sign of Laylatul Qadr, and it appears the morning after the night. Ubayy linked it to the 27th night in his view; the Prophet ﷺ himself told us to seek the night in all the odd nights of the last ten.

Try this: on the mornings of the last ten nights, glance at the sunrise after Fajr. If you see the sign, thank Allah and keep going; do not stop for the remaining nights.

2. Like a basin, with no rays until it rises

Another student asked Zirr how Ubayy could be so sure. Abu Dawud records the answer, with a little more detail about the sun:

Ubayy makes clear that this sign came from the Prophet ﷺ, not from his own guess. The extra detail is that the sun looks like a round basin (tast) with no rays at first, until it climbs higher in the sky.

Try this: if you see the sign, use it as encouragement, not as an excuse to rest. The reward is for standing on the night, and that night has already passed by sunrise.

3. The moon like half a plate

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that while they were talking about Laylatul Qadr with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said:

A moon shaped like half a plate is a thin, waning moon, the kind seen near the end of a lunar month. Scholars took this as another hint that the night falls in the last part of Ramadan (IslamWeb).

Try this: step outside after tarawih on one of the last ten nights and look at the moon. It is a simple way to remember which part of the month you are in, and how few nights are left.

4. The rain on the night he was shown

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) described a year when the Prophet ﷺ was shown the night in a dream. After his i‘tikaf in the middle ten nights, the Prophet ﷺ addressed them on the morning of the 20th:

Abu Sa‘id then described what happened:

Other narrations of the same event say this was the 21st night (Sahih al-Bukhari 2018). This sign belonged to that year: it confirmed the dream the Prophet ﷺ was shown. It does not mean that rain on a Ramadan night is always Laylatul Qadr.

Try this: notice how the Prophet ﷺ responded when he forgot the date: he told everyone to come back and keep seeking it. Treat each of the last ten nights the same way.

Bringing it together

Allah describes the night in the Quran with one word that covers all of it:

Look again at the four signs. The sun without rays appears the next morning. The moon only tells you that you are near the end of the month. The rain belonged to one year and one dream. None of them tells you in advance which night to stand. The only sure way to reach the night is the one the Prophet ﷺ taught: seek it in the last ten nights, especially the odd ones (see Laylatul Qadr: what it is, when it falls and what to do).

Reflection: I think there is mercy in the signs coming afterwards. If we could see the night coming, most of us would sleep through the other nine. Because we cannot, the signs of Laylatul Qadr become a reward for those who stayed up, not a shortcut for those who did not.

Questions people ask

Key lessons

• The clearest sign of Laylatul Qadr is the sun rising white and without rays the next morning (Sahih Muslim 762a).
• The sun looks like a basin with no rays until it rises high (Sunan Abi Dawud 1378).
• The moon looks like half a plate, a sign of the last part of the month (Sahih Muslim 1170).
• Rain on the night was a sign for one particular year (Sahih al-Bukhari 2016).
• The signs come after the night, so seek it on every night of the last ten.

May Allah let us reach the last ten nights, stand on the night itself, and wake to see its sun.

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