Chapter on the Manner of Prayer, Explanation of the Fifty-One Rak‘ahs; The Order, Recitation, Tasbih in Bowing and Prostration, Qunut, and What is Obligatory and Recommended Therein

Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub, from al-Husayn ibn Muhammad, from Abdullah ibn ‘Amir, from Ali ibn Mahziyar, from Fadalah ibn Ayyub, from al-Qasim ibn Burayd, from Muhammad ibn Muslim, from Abu Ja‘far. said: I asked Him عليه السلام about a man who rises at the end of the night and fears that dawn might surprise him, should he begin with the witr prayer or perform the prayer in its proper sequence so that the witr would be the last of it? Imam عليه السلام said: “Rather, he should begin with the witr.” And he (narrator) said: “I used to do that myself.”