Chapter on the Prayer Times (Mawaqit)

Al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Abdullah ibn Muhammad, who said: I wrote to Imam عليه السلام: “May I be your ransom. Our companions have narrated from Abu Ja‘far عليه السلام and Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon them, that they both said: ‘When the sun passes its zenith, the time of the two prayers has entered, except that before them is a subhah (supererogatory prayer), which if you wish, you may lengthen, and if you wish, you may shorten.’ And some of your followers have narrated from them (Imams عليه السلام) that: ‘The time of Dhuhr is after two footsteps from the zenith, and the time of ‘Asr is after four footsteps from the zenith. If you pray before that, it does not suffice; and some say it does suffice, but the preference is in waiting for two or four footsteps.’ And I wished, may I be your ransom, to know the correct position regarding the virtue of the timing.” So Imam عليه السلام wrote: “The two footsteps and the four footsteps are both correct.”