Is there a difference between praying at the beginning of the night and praying at the end of the night?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : If a person knows that nothing is hidden from Him, whether it is the time of descent or not, the state of the person is the same, and he doubts the time of descent, the descent of worship.
The Shaykh : Did you pray at the end of the night? I am not asking you because we know.
The questioner : I saw the meaning.
The Shaykh : Did you pray at the end of the night? I do not say every night, say you prayed in Ramadan, for example.
The questioner : I prayed in Ramadan, I prayed.
The Shaykh : Okay, do you feel the difference between your prayer at the end of the night and your prayer at another time?
The questioner : I mean, sometimes in the morning, sometimes the day is present, sometimes it is present.
The Shaykh : If the heart is present at night and you feel that Allah the Exalted descended to the sky at night. Is there a difference between feeling this feeling and not feeling it?
The questioner : What I see from my heart, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : I am asking you, is there a difference or not?
The questioner : No, I do not see you.
The Shaykh : No, your heart is a stone, I mean.
The questioner : If one fears Allah.
The Shaykh : You do not feel the difference between my feeling that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, descended to the lowest heaven and says, "Who is asking Me? Who is seeking My forgiveness? Who is calling upon Me?" and my not feeling this feeling, yes.
The questioner : This, I beg you.
The Shaykh : No, there is no doubt, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us of this to encourage us to seize this opportunity. So we call upon Allah, ask Him, and seek His forgiveness, and a person finds a difference between when he prays the Duha prayer or when he prays at the end of the night while feeling that Allah is descending and saying this, he finds a great difference, and this is the intent of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in informing us of it, otherwise Allah does not hide anything from Him, even before you do it, He knows what you do.
The Shaykh : Did you pray at the end of the night? I am not asking you because we know.
The questioner : I saw the meaning.
The Shaykh : Did you pray at the end of the night? I do not say every night, say you prayed in Ramadan, for example.
The questioner : I prayed in Ramadan, I prayed.
The Shaykh : Okay, do you feel the difference between your prayer at the end of the night and your prayer at another time?
The questioner : I mean, sometimes in the morning, sometimes the day is present, sometimes it is present.
The Shaykh : If the heart is present at night and you feel that Allah the Exalted descended to the sky at night. Is there a difference between feeling this feeling and not feeling it?
The questioner : What I see from my heart, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : I am asking you, is there a difference or not?
The questioner : No, I do not see you.
The Shaykh : No, your heart is a stone, I mean.
The questioner : If one fears Allah.
The Shaykh : You do not feel the difference between my feeling that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, descended to the lowest heaven and says, "Who is asking Me? Who is seeking My forgiveness? Who is calling upon Me?" and my not feeling this feeling, yes.
The questioner : This, I beg you.
The Shaykh : No, there is no doubt, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us of this to encourage us to seize this opportunity. So we call upon Allah, ask Him, and seek His forgiveness, and a person finds a difference between when he prays the Duha prayer or when he prays at the end of the night while feeling that Allah is descending and saying this, he finds a great difference, and this is the intent of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in informing us of it, otherwise Allah does not hide anything from Him, even before you do it, He knows what you do.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 4443 - 4600 هل هناك فرق بين الصلاة أول الليل والصلاة آخر الليل؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.