Chapter on Ruling of the Traveller and the Sick Person Regarding Fasting

And from him, from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and from Harun ibn Muslim, all from Muhammad ibn Abi Umayr, from Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hajjaj, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: I (narrator) asked Imam عليه السلام about ‘shortening the prayer.’ I (narrator) said: “I have an estate near al-Kufah, and it is in the position of al-Qadisiyyah in relation to al-Kufah. Sometimes a need arises for me by which I benefit from it, or staying away from it harms me, during (month of) Ramadan. So I dislike going out to it as I do not know whether I should fast or break the fast.” Imam عليه السلام said: “So go out, complete prayer, and fast, for I have seen al-Qadisiyyah.” So I (narrator) asked: “In what is the least distance in which the prayer is shortened?” Imam عليه السلام said: “The Sunnah has proceeded with the whiteness of a day.” So I (narrator) said to him: “The whiteness of a day differs, for a man may travel fifteen farsakhs in a day, and another may travel four farsakhs and five farsakhs in a day.” Imam عليه السلام said: “It is not to that which consideration is given. Have you not seen the course of these miles between Makkah and al-Madinah?” Then Imam عليه السلام gestured with his hand, “Twenty-four miles, which is eight farsakhs.”