Chapter on Times of Prayer and Sign of Each of Its Times

And that which indicates that these times are specifically for the one who performs the supererogatory (nawafil) prayers.

And no one has the right to say: ‘How can you act upon these narrations when their wordings differ and their meanings seem contradictory?!’ For some of them mention a ‘qamah’ (forearm’s length), some of them mention a ‘dhira’ (arm’s length), and some mention a ‘qadam’ (foot), and these are different measures. The response is that although the wording differs, the meanings are not contradictory from several aspects. One of them is: we have already explained that when the sun passes the meridian, the time for Dhuhr has entered, except for one who wishes to perform the supererogatory prayer (‘al-subhah’). And the performance of ‘subhah’ varies according to the individuals praying. So, whoever performs it in the time it takes for the sun to reach one ‘qadam’, then that is his time; and whoever prays until it reaches one ‘dhira’, then that is his time; and whoever continues until the sun’s shadow is one ‘qamah’, then that is his time. And Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, clearly stated this in the narration which we previously mentioned from Mansur ibn Hazim, From His عليه السلام words: ‘Shall I not inform you of something clearer than this? Then Imam عليه السلام said: When the sun passes the meridian, the time for Dhuhr has entered, except that there is a supererogatory prayer before it. So if you shorten it, then the time (of Dhuhr) is when you finish it; and if you lengthen it, then the time is when you finish it.’ And the second (point): That all which these narrations contain of the mention of ‘qamah’ (standing height), ‘dhira’ (forearm), and ‘qadam’ (foot), what is meant by them is the ‘dhira’ (forearm), and they, peace be upon them, have clarified this. It was narrated:

And the third (point) is that the standing person by whom the time of the sun's decline (‘zawal’) is determined, his shadow differs according to the changing times. At times, his shadow in the summer shrinks so much that nothing remains between it and the base of the upright post except a ‘qadam’ (foot), and at other times it extends to a point where the distance between it and the base is a ‘dhira’ (forearm), and at other times its length is equal to the height of the erected object. So, when the shadow begins to increase again and reaches the same amount as the distance it had previously reached at its shortest extent, then the time (of Dhuhr) has entered, whether that was a ‘qadam’, a ‘dhira’, or the height of the erected body. Thus, the consideration is always with the ‘shadow’ in all conditions, not with the height of the object itself. And that which indicates this meaning is:

As for the final category which we have mentioned, and that is the time of necessity (‘waqt al-mudtarr’), what indicates that is:

And that which indicates that what is contained in these narrations, from the statement ‘then you are within the time for both of them until the sun sets’, was only mentioned as a concession (‘rukhsah’) for the one in necessity (‘mudtarr’) or the one who has an excuse (‘sahib al-’udhr’), is: (following narration)

As for what He عليه السلام, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى have mercy on him, mentioned regarding determining the sun's zenith (‘zawal’) using the astrolabe and the geometrical circle, the reference in that matter is to the experts, and it is not derived from transmitted reports (‘athar’). As for determining it by means of the upright stick (‘al-’ud al-mansub’):

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: ‘And the time of Maghrib is the setting of the sun”’, up to his statement: ‘And the time of Fajr”’.

As for that which indicates the consideration of the setting of the sun (‘Maghrib’), using the actual disappearance of the sun as the marker, then it is:

That is not in contradiction with what we have mentioned regarding considering the disappearance of the sun, because it is not impossible that the redness has disappeared from the east even though the sun remains behind the mountain, since the sun sets for some people while it is rising for others.

So these narrations are to be understood as pertaining to a state of necessity (‘darurah’), because in a case of necessity it is permissible to delay the prayer beyond its initial time. What indicates this is what was narrated:

So all of these narrations indicate that these timings are for the one who has excuses (‘sahib al-a’dhar’), because they are restricted by obstacles and what is similar to them. What further clarifies what we have mentioned, that it is not permissible to delay Maghrib beyond the disappearance of the sun except due to an excuse, is the established fact that a person is commanded to perform the prayer at this time, and in our view, the command is immediate (‘ala al-fawr’). Therefore, the prayer becomes obligatory upon him in this state. What also indicates this is:

As for the time of the ‘Ishaʾ al-Akhirah (the last evening prayer), it is the disappearance of the redness (from the western horizon), as he, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى have mercy on him, mentioned in the book. Its end is a third of the night, and in some narrations, until midnight. This applies to one who has excuses and pressing needs. This is indicated by some of the reports we have previously mentioned, because most of the narrations include the timing of both prayers, and this is further clarified by the following:

These narrations can bear two possible interpretations: The first is that they are specific to a state of necessity, referring to one who knows or assumes that if he does not pray at this time and waits for the disappearance of the shafaq, he will not be able to do so due to an obstacle that would prevent him from performing the prayer, or a hindrance that would bar him from it. What indicates this is:

The second (interpretation) is that it is a concession to enter the prayer for one who knows that the shafaq will disappear before he finishes the prayer, because whenever the matter is as we have described, then it suffices him. And there is nothing in any of these narrations indicating that it is permissible for him to pray before the disappearance of the shafaq while knowing that he will finish the prayer while the shafaq still remains. So, if the meaning we mentioned is possible, we interpret it accordingly. What indicates that this is permissible is what has been narrated:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى have mercy on him, said: “The beginning time of the morning prayer is the appearance of the dawn, which is the whiteness [in the horizon]” until his statement: “And for every obligatory prayer there are two times.”

As for the previously mentioned narration, which is the hadith of Zurarah from Abu Ja’far عليه السلام, who said: "The time of the morning prayer is between the rising of the dawn and the rising of the sun", and what was narrated:

So the intended meaning of these narrations is (concerning) the one who has excuses and pressing needs, just as we have mentioned regarding other prayers. What indicates this is what has been narrated:

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, said: "And every one of the five obligatory prayers has two times: an initial time and a final time. The first is for one who has no excuse, and the second is for those with excuses. And it is not appropriate for anyone to delay the prayer beyond its initial time while being mindful of it and not prevented from performing it. If he delays it and then dies during the time before performing it, he has neglected it. But if he remains until he performs it at the end of the time or between the first and the last time, he is excused for the delay." We have already clarified previously that the end of the time is for one who has an excuse or a pressing need, and that one who has no excuse, his time is the beginning of the time. What further confirms this is what was narrated:

And no one has the right to say that these narrations merely indicate that the beginning of the time is better, but do not indicate that it is obligatory (to pray) at the beginning of the time, because when it has been established that the beginning of the time is superior, and there is no barrier or excuse, then it becomes obligatory to act accordingly. And whenever one does not act in such a case as we have described, he deserves blame and reproach. However, what is meant by "obligation" (wujub) here is not the type whose abandonment incurs punishment, because obligation, according to us, is of various kinds: among them is that whose abandonment brings about punishment, and among them is that which is preferable to do but whose abandonment does not incur punishment, even if it deserves a type of blame and reprimand. Then the Shaykh, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى have mercy on him, mentioned the preference of the two time intervals for each prayer until the end of the chapter, and the explanation of that has already been covered in full.