THE holy Quran describes it as the night of nights’ for the great significance it holds in the mundane and spiritual lives of the Muslims which In the eye of Islam are but one and indistinguishable. Muslims all over the world will seek divine blessings of the Almighty for the coming year. Of the three important nights in the Islamic calendar Lailatul Barat is one. Laila means night' and Barat means salvation'. Therefore it is the night of salvation' for Muslims across the world. They will take stock of their earthly performance of the year gone by. seek Allah's divine guidance to clear of misfortune and His blessings for a better future. On this night we supplicate ourselves before the will of Allah. Prayers and expressions of devotion to Allah on this night will salvage us spiritually as our worldly life is set on a rewarding course that is the essential message of the night.

We observe that the sanctity of this night is undermined by blasting crackers and going for noisy fire-works. These have been a regular nuisance during the observance of Shab-e-Barat in Bangladesh. The solemnity of the holy night must be maintained,

As the devotees pray through the night, let us hope for a better year ahead of us -- both in terms of political sagacity and economic wisdom to bring welfare to our people. It would befit the spirit of the occasion to renew our commitments towards alleviation of mass poverty in the country.