Ahavat Olam is the second prayer that is recited during Maariv

Maariv

Maariv is a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel. It is second in sales after Yedioth Ahronoth and third in readership after Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel HaYom. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Maariv saw its market share fall slightly...

. It is the parallel blessing to Ahava Rabbah

Ahava rabbah

Ahava rabbah is a prayer and blessing that is recited by followers of Ashkenazi Judaism during Shacharit immediately prior to the Shema, the "Hear O Israel..." prayer...

 that is recited during Shacharit

Shacharit

Shacharit is the the daily morning Tefillah of the Jewish people, one of the three times there is prayer each day.Shacharit is said to have been established by the patriarch Abraham when he prayed in the morning...

, and likewise, is an expression to G-d for the gift of the Torah.

Ahava Rabbah is recited in the morning and Ahavat Olam is recited in the evening as a compromise. Ahava Rabbah is the Ashkenazi prayer, and Ahavat Olam is the Sephardi prayer. Sephardim recite Ahavat Olam at both Shacharit and Maariv. The debate over this recitation occurred between the Geonim

Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...

. Saadia Gaon

Saadia Gaon

Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...

 had made a ruling that followed that of his predecessor Amran. The last two Geonim, Sherira Gaon

Sherira Gaon

Rav Sherira Gaon was the head of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the father of Hai Gaon, who succeeded him as gaon.Sherira was born in 906 and died in 1006. Rav Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: רב שרירא גאון or R. Sherira ben Ḥanina Gaon, Hebrew: רב...

 and Hai Gaon

Hai Gaon

Hai ben Sherira , was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038...

, made the final ruling which stands to this day.

Theme

The theme of Ahavat Olam is that G-d provides love in good times and in bad. Nighttime, when there is darkness, is a time associated with danger. Nevertheless, G-d provides protection at night, and the sun always rises in the morning.

Ahavat Olam is also seen as the blessing over the mitzvah of the recitation of the Shema.