The Descent of Explanatory Revealtion to Ahl al-Bayt in the Night of Qadr

The Night of Qadr has a high place in the Qurʾān and Islamic tradition, as we find not only separated Qurʾānic verses on it, but also an intire Qurʾānic chapter. It has been said that God vouchsafes parts of his knowledge to his chosen servants, and specialy to Ahl al-Bayt. A part of the knowledge descended in the Night of Qadr is related to the Qurʾān and is exclusively granted to Ahl al-Bayt. The Qurʾān itself is a part of that knowledge which was descended to the Prophet in that night. In addition, the explanatory revelation (vaḥy bayānī) was descended to the Prophet in this night, annually. According to the Shiʿi tradition, this kind of revelation is descended to the living Imam, since the Prophet’s death until the Doomsday, in every Night of Qadr. This revelation includes the interpretation of the Qurʾān, specially the ambiguous verses, as well as identification of new events with Qurʾānic declarations.