Forty Hadith Qudsi
Hadith 35, 40 Hadith Qudsi
عَنْ أَبي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ قَالَ يَتنزَّلُ رَبُّنَا ، تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى ، كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ إلي سَمَاءِ الدُّنْيا ، حينَ يَبْقَى ثُلُثُ اللَّيْلِ الاخِرُ ، فَيَقُولُ مَنْ يَدْعُوني فأَسْتَجِيبَ لَه ؟ مَنْ يَسْأَلُني فَأُعْطِيَهُ ؟ مَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُني فَأَغْفِرَلَهُ ؟ رواه البخاري (وكذلك مسلم ومالك والترمذي و أبو داود) وفي رواية لمسلم زيادة: فَلا يَزالُ كذَلِك حَتَى يُضِيءَ الفَجْرُ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
‘Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, descends each night to the lowest heaven when the final third of the night remains and says, “Who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who asks Me, that I may give to him? Who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?”’
It was related by al-Bukhari (and likewise by Muslim, Malik, al-Tirmidhi, and Abu Dawud). In a version of Muslim there is this addition: ‘He continues thus until dawn shines.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
يَتنزَّلُ رَبُّنَا ،
The source uses يَتَنزَّلُ and سماء الدنيا. The witness renders the latter as ‘the earth’s sky’; this is theologically sensitive wording, and no project glossary decision or explanatory note is supplied.
Which English rendering of سماء الدنيا is preferred for this occurrence, and should this literal wording receive qualified review?