Retreat in Ramadan II

At my age sleeping on the floor is'nt very comfortable so I got an inflatable mattress which did a good job. My problem was that timings for my rest did not match the timings for younger persons who could sleep for 3-4 hours after morning "spiritual exercises" (I could only do about an hour), so I wanted to sleep soon after night prayer in order to get up for Tahajjud, better refreshed and better prepared.
There was going to be some sleep deprivation anyway, so I did OK on the whole.
I had the unique experience of reading through the first volume of (Urdu translation) Ibn Kathir. I was intrigued by the number of hadithes he was able to stuff in for explanations. I thought he sometimes gets carried away too far from the subject under discussion in story telling. You can almost get a feeling of the cultural millieu in which he was writing, what was Islamic culture like then (13th-14th century CE).
I also get a feeling that human beings have a tendency to exaggerate and add fanciful aspects to events related to 'religion' and followers of Islam are no exception even though there is a curb placed by Qur'an saying:
"O ye who believe! ask not questions about things which if made plain to you may cause you trouble. But if you ask about things when the Qur'an is being revealed......"
An excellent example is also in the story of "people of the cave". How many were they, who were they etc. Qur'an only reveals what concerns us for admonition and instruction but leaves out un-necessary details and we should refrain from those details too. For if dont we are likely fall in to error. Like in Sura Najm (53rd, verses 15-16), "Near it is the Garden of abode. Behold the "lote-tree" was shrouded (in mystery un-speakable)" (Yusufali's attempt to translate 'Izd yaghshassidrata ma yaghsha') The tafsir writers get lost in imagination of all kinds of things they can come up with, which of course is not necessarily relavant and can easily (and should) be skipped. If the Almighty used such words couched in mystery why go into the details of that "shroud". (That is my sincere feeling).
However that is what I see in Ibn-Kathir also. My sincere apologies to the great writer and Muhaddis (who am I to criticize?). The good thing, nevertheless is that his document holds the key to the Muslim thought process of his time and it is a very valuable document as it is, that is why all modern mufassirin depend on his documantation for expalanation and excegesis. May Allah reward him higher and higher places in Paradise. On the whole you get the real meanings well clarified and that is what matters.