Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:78
Establish prayer at the decline of the sun [from its meridian] until the darkness of the night and [also] the Qur'an of dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا (17:78)
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ — establish the prayer, O Muḥammad — لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ (at the dalūk of the sun).
The exegetes differed regarding the time that Allah intended by "the dalūk of the sun." Some said: this is the time of its setting; the prayer whose establishment was then commanded is the Maghrib prayer.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Wāṣil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Asadī related to me; he said: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq — that is: al-Shaybānī — on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad, on the authority of his father, that he was with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd on a rooftop when the sun set, whereupon he recited: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ to the end of the āya, and then said: "By Him in Whose hand my soul is, this is precisely the hour at which the sun declines (dalakatِ), the fasting one breaks his fast, and it is the time of the prayer."
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿUqba ibn ʿAbd al-Ghāfir, that ʿUbayda ibn ʿAbd Allāh wrote to him: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd used to perform the Maghrib prayer when the sun set, to break his fast when he was fasting, and to swear by Allah — the only god — with an oath such as he swore by at no other prayer: "This hour is the appointed time of this prayer," and he would then read the Qurʾānic statement of it: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ .
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh. He said: "This is the dalūk of the sun, and this is the ghashq of the night" — and he pointed to the east and the west.
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid. He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "The dalūk of the sun: its setting — one says: dalakatِ birāḥ."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh. He said: "When the sun set, it had declined (dalakatِ) — that is: birāḥ, a particular place."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. He said: "Its dalūk: its setting."
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda. He said: "It has been related to us that Ibn Masʿūd used to perform the prayer when it [the sun] sank (wajabatْ), and would thereupon break his fast when he was fasting, and would swear by Allah — beside Whom there is no god — with an oath such as he swore by at no prayer: 'This hour is the appointed time of this prayer'; then he would recite and perform the prayer, and his confirmation from the Book of Allah: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ ."
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ : "My father used to say: its dalūk is when the sun is about to set until the moment the night falls (yaghsaq); that is Maghrib when the night falls, and the sun declines before its setting."
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ related to me; he said: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us — he heard ʿAmr ibn Dīnār say that he heard Abū ʿUbayda ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd say: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd used to pray Maghrib when the first part of the sun set, and would swear that this was the time that Allah intended in: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ .
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm. He said: ʿAbd Allāh said — when the sun set —: "By Allah, beside Whom there is no god, this is the time of this prayer." And he said: "Its dalūk: its setting."
Others said: the dalūk of the sun is its inclining toward the meridian decline (al-zawāl); the prayer whose establishment the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded at its dalūk is the Ẓuhr prayer.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh. He said: "Its dalūk: its inclining — that is: of the sun."
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me; he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. He said, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ : "Its dalūk: its meridian decline (zawāl)."
Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me; he said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jaʿfar, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ . He said: "Its dalūk: its inclining (mayl)."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Sayyār ibn Salāma, on the authority of Abū Barza al-Aslamī, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ . He said: "When it inclines (idhā zālatِ)."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us again; he said: Abū Tumayla related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us; he said: Sayyār ibn Salāma al-Riyāḥī related to us. He said: "I went to Abū Barza, and my father asked him about the times of the prayers of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said: 'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed Ẓuhr when the sun inclined,' and then recited: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ ."
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to me; he said: my father related to us; he said: Mubārak related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan. He said: Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ — Ẓuhr at its dalūk, when it inclines from the middle of the sky and a shadow of it appears on the earth.
Yaʿqūb related to us; he said: Hushaym related to us; he said: Yūnus informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ . He said: "Its dalūk: its decline (zawāl)."
Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk — the same.
Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ . He said: "At the decline of the sun (li-zawāl al-shams)."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. He said: "The dalūk of the sun: its deviation after midday — that is: the shadow."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "The dalūk of the sun — when it departs from the middle of the sky."
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ — that is: when the sun departs from the middle of the sky, for the Ẓuhr prayer.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us. And al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ . He said: "When it inclines (ḥīna tazīgh)."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid. He said: "The dalūk of the sun: when it inclines."
The most correct of the two opinions in this matter is, in my view, the position of those who say that أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ intends the Ẓuhr prayer. This is because "al-dalūk" in the Arabic language means "the inclining" (al-mayl) — one says: "dalaka fulān ilā kadhā" when someone inclines toward something. From this also derives the report related from al-Ḥasan, that a man asked him: "Yuḍāliku al-rajulu imraʾatahu?" — by which he meant: does he incline against her toward delaying her rights? From this also derives the verse of the rajaz poet:
هَـذَا مَقـامُ قَـدَمَيْ رَبَـاحِ غُـدْوَةَ حَتـى دَلَكَـتْ بِـرَاحِ
(This is the standing-place of Rabāḥ's feet — from early morning until the sun was [shielded] with the palm.)
There are two transmissions: "birāḥ" with kasra of the bāʾ and "barāḥ" with fatḥa of the bāʾ. He who transmits with kasra (birāḥ) means: the onlooker places his palm upon his eyebrow to ward off the sunlight and to see how far it is from its setting; this is the explanation of the philologists Abū ʿUbayda, al-Aṣmaʿī, Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī, and others. In the transmission of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd it is stated that he said, when the sun set: "Dalakatِ birāḥ" — that is: "birāḥ, a particular place" — but I do not know whether this explanation comes from someone in the isnād, or from ʿAbd Allāh himself. If it is from ʿAbd Allāh, then there is no doubt that he knew that better than the philologists whose opinion I have mentioned, and his opinion is the correct one. If it is not from ʿAbd Allāh, then the Arabists were more versed in it, and the reading of the philologists has as evidence a verse of al-ʿAjjāj:
وَالشَّمْسُ قَـدْ كَـادَتْ تَكُـونُ دَنَفـا أَدْفَعُهَـا بِالرَّاحِ كَـيْ تَزَحْلَفـا
(The sun was almost at its last, I warded it off with the palm so that it might slip away.)
In this he indicates that he warded off its light with his palm in order to look at its setting. He who reads it with fatḥa (barāḥ) made it into a name for the sun, with kasra of the ḥāʾ, on the pattern of Qaṭām, Ḥadhām, and Raqāsh. Now since the meaning of "al-dalūk" in Arabic is "the inclining," then there is no doubt that the sun, when it inclines from the midpoint of the sky, inclines in the direction of setting — and that is the time of Ẓuhr. This is confirmed by the transmission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, even though the isnād of some of them has weak points.
Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Khālid ibn Makhlad related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us; he said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm al-Anṣārī related to us, on the authority of Abū Masʿūd ʿUqba ibn ʿAmr. He said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Jibrāʾīl ﷺ came to me at the dalūk of the sun — when it had inclined — and led me in the Ẓuhr prayer."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Abū Tumayla related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us; he said: Sayyār ibn Salāma al-Riyāḥī related to us. He said: Abū Barza said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed Ẓuhr when the sun inclined," and then recited: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ .
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us; he said: ʿAmr ibn Qays related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh. He said: "I invited the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, together with whomever he wished of his companions, and they ate with me; then they departed when the sun inclined. The Prophet ﷺ went out and said: 'Come along, O Abū Bakr, the sun has declined (dalakatِ al-shams).'"
Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Rāzī related to me; he said: Sahl ibn Bakkār related to us; he said: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of Nubayḥ al-ʿAnazī, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — similar to the transmission of Ibn Ḥumayd.
Now that this is established — what we have argued and for which we have brought testimonies — then it is clear that the meaning of أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ is: the Ẓuhr prayer and the ʿAṣr prayer with their time-limits fall within what Allah has obligated upon you, for they are the two prayers that Allah imposed upon His Prophet for the period from the dalūk of the sun until the falling of the night (ghashq al-layl). The falling of the night (ghashq al-layl) is the approach of the night with its darkness, as the poet said:
آبَ هَذَا اللَّيْلُ إذْ غَسَقَا
(This night returned when it grew dark.)
In agreement with what we have said the exegetes spoke, even though they differed among themselves over which prayer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded to perform at that time. Some said: the prayer that was made obligatory at that time is the Maghrib prayer.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me; he said: my father related to me; he said: my uncle related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ . He said: "The ghashq of the night: the onset of the night (baduw al-layl)."
Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ. He said: "I heard ʿIkrima asked about this āya: أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ . He said: 'The onset of the night.'"
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us. And al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid. He said: "Ghashq al-layl: the setting of the sun."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ : the Maghrib prayer.
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ : "the onset of the night, for the Maghrib prayer." And it has been related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "A group of my community remains upon the fiṭra so long as they pray Maghrib before the stars appear."
It has been related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us; he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ : "that is: the darkness of the night."
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said: "My father used to say: 'Ghashq al-layl: the darkness of the night.'"
Others said: it is the ʿAṣr prayer.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, concerning إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ : "The ʿAṣr prayer."
The most correct of the two opinions in this matter is, in my view, the position of those who say: the prayer that the Prophet ﷺ was commanded to perform at the ghashq al-layl is the Maghrib prayer — and no other. For ghashq al-layl is what we described: the approach of the night with its darkness, and that occurs only after the sun has set. As for the ʿAṣr prayer — that falls within the period from the onset of the dalūk until the ghashq al-layl, not at the ghashq al-layl itself.
As for His word وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ : the meaning is "and establish the Qurʾān of the dawn" — that is: what you recite in the morning prayer; and "al-Qurʾān" is conjoined with "al-ṣalāt" in the word أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ .
Some of the Basran grammarians said: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ is in the accusative on account of an exhortation (al-ighrāʾ) — as if one had said: "Make incumbent upon yourself the Qurʾān of the dawn." إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا : what you recite in the morning prayer was witnessed — witnessed, according to transmission, by the angels of the night and the angels of the day.
In agreement with what we have said about this the exegetes spoke and so are the transmissions from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
ʿUbayd ibn Asbāṭ ibn Muḥammad al-Qurayshī related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, concerning this āya وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا : he said: "The angels of the night and the angels of the day witness it."
Muḥammad ibn Sahl related to us; he said: Ādam related to us; he said: Layth ibn Saʿd related to us. And Muḥammad ibn Sahl ibn ʿAskar related to us; he said: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us; he said: al-Layth ibn Saʿd related to us, on the authority of Ziyāda ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurāẓī, on the authority of Faḍāla ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ. He said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Allah unfolds the remembrance in three hours that remain of the night: in the first hour He looks into the Book into which none looks but He, and effaces what He wills and confirms; then He descends in the second hour to the Garden of ʿAdn — that is His abode that no eye has ever seen and that no heart has ever conceived; it is His dwelling-place, and none of the children of Adam dwells in it except three: the Prophets, the Ṣiddīqūn, and the Shuhadāʾ; then He says: 'Blessed is he who enters you'; then He descends in the third hour to the lowest heaven with His spirit and His angels, and it trembles, and He says: 'Arise with My help'; then He beholds His servants and says: 'Whoever asks Me for forgiveness, him I forgive; whoever asks Me, him I give; whoever calls upon Me, him I answer' — until the dawn breaks; that is when He says: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا ." Mūsā added in his transmission: "Allah and the angels of the night and the angels of the day witness it." And Ibn ʿAskar added in his transmission: "Allah and the angels of the night and the angels of the day witness it."
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿUqba ibn ʿAbd al-Ghāfir. He said: Abū ʿUbayda ibn ʿAbd Allāh related that ʿAbd Allāh transmitted that at the Fajr prayer two watches of the angels of Allah gather; and he recited thereupon this āya: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا .
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا : "The Qurʾān of the dawn: the Ṣubḥ prayer; we used to relate that at that prayer the two watches of the angels of Allah gather: the night watch and the day watch."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ : the Fajr prayer.
As for His word كَانَ مَشْهُودًا : the angels of the night and the angels of the day witness that prayer.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us; he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, that concerning this āya وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا he said: "The angels of the day descend and the angels of the night ascend."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me; he said: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ḍirār ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Hudhayl, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, concerning: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا . He said: "The night and day watches of the angels witness it in the Fajr prayer."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to us; he said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا . He said: "They used to say: the angels of the night and the angels of the day gather in the Fajr prayer and both of them witness it, then these ascend and these remain."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me; he said: my father related to me; he said: my uncle related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا — he means: the Ṣubḥ prayer.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us. And al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ . He said: "The Ṣubḥ prayer."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ — the Ṣubḥ prayer; إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا — the angels of the night and the angels of the day gather in the Fajr prayer.
It has been related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us; he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ : "he means: the morning prayer (ṣalāt al-ghadāt)."
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ : "The Fajr prayer — إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا : witnessed by the angels, according to transmission." He said: "ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said: the middle prayer upon which Allah urged is the Ṣubḥ prayer. That is because Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr are the daytime prayers, Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ the nighttime prayers, and this prayer lies between them; it is a prayer of sleep — we know of no prayer so easily neglected as this one."
Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of al-Jurayrī, on the authority of Abū al-Ward ibn Thumāma, on the authority of Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥaḍramī. He said: "Kaʿb proclaimed to us in this mosque: 'By Him in Whose hand Kaʿb's soul is — this āya وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا is indeed the Fajr prayer, and it is truly witnessed.'"
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbbās related to me; he said: Bishr ibn Shuʿayb related to us; he said: my father informed me, on the authority of al-Zuhrī. He said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib and Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, that Abū Hurayra said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: 'The angels of the night and the angels of the day gather in the Fajr prayer.'" Then Abū Hurayra said: "Recite, if you wish: وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا ."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا . He said: "In the Fajr prayer the angels of the night and the angels of the day gather."
