Chapter on Sign of the Time of the Obligation of Fasting, the Days of the Month, and the Proof of the Time of Breaking the Fast

And from him, from a number of our companions, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Asim ibn Humayd, from Muhammad ibn Qays, from Abu Basir, who said: I (narrator) asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, and said: “When does food become forbidden for the fasting person, and prayer, the dawn prayer (fajr), become lawful?” Imam عليه السلام said to me (narrator): “When dawn spreads horizontally and is like the white Coptic cloth (al-qibtiyyah), then at that point food becomes forbidden and prayer, the dawn prayer, becomes lawful.” I (narrator) asked: “So are we not within the time until the ray of the sun rises?” Imam عليه السلام said: “Far from it. Where are you going (with this)? That is the prayer of children.”