The 365 · Sunnah · Day 52 · Quran
Reciting a Daily Evening Portion of the Quran Before Sleep
The hadith
مَنْ قَامَ بِعَشْرِ آيَاتٍ لَمْ يُكْتَبْ مِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ، وَمَنْ قَامَ بِمِائَةِ آيَةٍ كُتِبَ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ، وَمَنْ قَامَ بِأَلْفِ آيَةٍ كُتِبَ مِنَ الْمُقَنْطِرِينَ
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Whoever stands (in night prayer) with ten verses will not be recorded among the heedless; whoever stands with one hundred verses will be recorded among the devout (qānitīn); whoever stands with one thousand verses will be recorded among those who have accumulated mountains of reward (muqanṭirīn).' (Sunan Abū Dāwūd 1398, classed ḥasan, narrated by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ.) Practiced every evening before sleep.
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sade: 'Den som står (i nattbönen) med tio verser kommer inte att räknas bland de förbisedda; den som står med hundra verser kommer att räknas bland de hängivna; den som står med tusen verser kommer att räknas bland dem som har samlat berg av belöning.'
The story
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, the narrator of this hadith, was famous for his nightly recitation. The Prophet ﷺ would ask after his recitation cadence and instructed him to moderate it (the seven-day floor, Day 48). The Companions structured their nights around the recitation. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd said: 'When the night falls, fold up its banner with Quran.' Imam ash-Shāfiʿī completed the Quran twice each night during Ramaḍān, once during the night, once during the day.
Why it's here
The evening Quran portion (often paired with tahajjud, Day 43) is the believer's closing of the day with the Speech of Allah. The hadith names three thresholds: ten verses removes you from the heedless; one hundred verses places you among the qānitīn (the devout, deeply obedient); one thousand verses places you among the muqanṭirīn (those whose reward is measured in qinṭār, mountains of gold). The Companions structured their evenings around these thresholds.
Try it today
1. Before sleep, recite at least ten verses. The Prophet's ﷺ floor for not being among the heedless. 2. Build to one hundred verses. Approximately one juzʾ-and-a-half. The threshold for being recorded among the qānitīn. 3. Pair with the bedtime adhkār (āyat al-kursī, the last two verses of al-Baqarah, the Muʿawwidhāt blown into the palms and wiped over the body, the duʿāʾ before sleep). 4. If too tired, recite even five verses. The discipline of the closing recitation is what matters; the count is built over time.
In your day
Most modern Muslims close the day with social media or video. The Sunnah names recitation as the closing anchor. Replace the screen-time before sleep with Quran-time. Even ten verses excludes you from the 'heedless' category by the Prophet's ﷺ explicit naming.
A reflection to carry
The evening Quran portion: closing-anchor of the day. The structural pair to the morning-portion: open the day with Quran, close it with Quran. The day is bracketed by direct conversation with the Speech of Allah.
Read the longer reflection
The Prophet's ﷺ pattern included evening Quran recitation, often the last surahs (al-Mulk, al-Kāfirūn, al-Ikhlāṣ, the Muʿawwidhāt) before sleep. Cure: dedicate 10-30 minutes after ʿAṣr or after Maghrib to Quran-recitation; if the morning portion was a juzʺ, the evening can be reflection-pages or specific surahs; the daily total Quran-time should be substantial and structurally distributed. Modern evening-collapse-into-entertainment is structurally counter-Sunnah; the discipline is to anchor the evening with Quran before any leisure activity.
Sources: Abu Dawud. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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