Qāf

فَاصْبِرْ عَلَی مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ الْغُرُوبِ

وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَأدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ

39. Therefore, bear with patience [against] all that they say and glorify the praises of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before [its] setting.

40. And during a part of the night [also] glorify His praises and [do likewise] after the prostrations [of prayers].

The times of prayer in the Islamic doctrine are based on natural phenomena like the moon and the sun visible to all people;

(“before the rising of the sun and before [its] setting”).

In these blessed Verses, God Almighty addresses his Noble Messenger (S) and commands him to be patient against the unfounded words of disbelievers and occupy himself with praising and glorifying his Lord before sun rise whose perfect instance includes the morning prayer and its supererogatory prayers in which God Almighty is praised and glorified. The phrase:

“before sun set”

may connote evening or noon and evening prayers or both of them. The blessed Verse 40 opens thus:

“And during a part of the night” (wa min al-layl)

in which the disjunctive preposition min connotes

‘a part of the night’

spent in praising and glorification of God Almighty. The phrase ‘during a part of the night’ may indicate early and late evening prayers. The phrase:

‘after the prostrations’ (adbar al-sujud)

designates praising and glorifying God Almighty following prostrations. It is narrated from Imam ‘Ali (as) that:

‘after the prostrations’

refers to the two units of prayer established after sun set as adbar al-nujum designates two units of supererogatory prayers.¹⁶ The preceding blessed Verses seemingly make a reference to the five daily prayers; since the main intention behind establishing prayers is to praise and glorify God Almighty, all prayers are referred to as glorification.

Footnotes

1. 16. Manhaj; Tafsir Maraghi; Masa’il, vol. 4, p. 73.