حدثنا أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله، عن يعقوب بن يزيد، عن محمد بن أبي عمير، عن أبي المغرا حميد بن المثنى العجلي، عن أبي بصير، قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: صلاة الوسطى صلاة الظهر وهي أول صلاة أنزل الله على نبيه صلى الله عليه وآله.

1.	We were told by my father, may Allah grant him mercy, that he said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, from Ya’qoub bin Yazid, from Muhammed bin Abi ‘Umayr, from Abu’l-Mighra, Hameed bin Muthanna al-‘Ajali, from Abu Baseer, that he said: I heard Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, say: The middle prayer is the noon prayer, and it is the first prayer whom Allah sent down (in commandment) upon His Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family.

حدثنا علي بن عبد الله الوراق، وعلي بن محمد بن الحسن المعروف بابن مقبرة القزويني، قالا: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله بن أبي خلف الأشعري، قال: حدثنا أحمد بن [أبي] الصباح، قال: حدثنا محمد بن عاصم الرازي، قال: أخبرنا أبو نعيم الفضل بن دكين، عن هشام بن سعد، عن زيد بن أسلم، عن أبي يونس، قال: كتبت لعائشة مصحفا فقالت: إذا مررت بآية الصلاة فلا تكتبها حتى أمليها عليك، فلما مررت بها أملتها علي " حافظوا على الصلوات والصلاة الوسطى وصلاة العصر ".

2.	We were told by Ali bin Abdullah al-Warraq, and Ali bin Muhammed bin Hasan, known as Ibn Maqbara al-Qazwini, that they both said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah bin Abi Khalaf al-Ash’ari, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin Abi’l-Sabah, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin ‘Asem al-Razi, that he said: We were informed by Abu Na’eem, Fadl bin Dakeen, from Hisham bin Sa’d, ob Zaid bin Aslam, from Abu Yunus, that he said: Aisha wrote a book (containing the Qur’an) and said: If you pass by the verse of prayer, then do not write it until I dictate it to you. Then, when I passed by it, she dictated it to me as: «Maintain the prayers, and (in particular) the middle prayer and the prayer of the afternoon». (2:238) [1]

حدثنا علي بن عبد الله الوراق، وعلي بن محمد بن الحسن القزويني، قالا: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله [قال: حدثنا أحمد] بن أبي خلف الأشعري، قال: حدثنا سعد بن داود، عن أبي دهر ، عن مالك بن أنس، عن زيد بن أسلم، عن عمرو بن نافع، قال: كنت أكتب مصحفا لحفصة زوجة النبي صلى الله عليه وآله فقالت: إذا بلغت هذه الآية فاكتب " حافظوا على الصلوات والصلاة الوسطى وصلاة العصر ".

3.	We were told by Ali bin Abdullah al-Warraq, and Ali bin Muhammed bin Hasan al-Qazwini, that they both said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin Abi Khalaf al-Ash’ari, that he said: We were told by Sa’d bin Dawud, from Abu Dahr, from Malik bin Anas, from Zaid bin Aslam, from Amru bin Nafe’, that he said: I was writing the book (which contained the Qur’an) from Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, and she said: If you reach this verse, then write: «Maintain the prayers, and (in particular) the middle prayer and the prayer of the afternoon». (2:238)

حدثنا علي بن عبد الله الوراق، وعلي بن محمد بن الحسن القزويني، قالا حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله بن أبي خلف، قال: حدثنا أحمد بن أبي خلف الأشعري، قال: حدثنا سعد بن داود، عن مالك بن أنس، عن زيد بن أسلم، عن القعقاع بن حكيم، عن أبي يونس مولى عائشة زوجة النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال: أمرتني عائشة أن اكتب لها مصحفا وقالت: إذا بلغت هذه الآية فاكتب " حافظوا على الصلوات والصلاة الوسطى (وصلاة العصر) وقوموا لله قانتين " ثم قالت عائشة: سمعتها والله من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله.

4.	We were told by Ali bin Abdullah al-Warraq, and Ali bin Muhammed bin Hasan al-Qazwini, that they both said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah bin Abi Khalaf, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin Abi Khalaf al-Ash’ari, that he said: We were told by Sa’d bin Dawud, from Malik bin Anas, from Zaid bin Aslam, from Qa’qa’ bin Hukaim, from Abu Yunus, the servant of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, that he said: Aisha ordered me to write for her a book (containing the Qur’an), and she said: If you reach this verse, then write: «Maintain the prayers, and (in particular) the middle prayer and the prayer of the afternoon», and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.» (2:238) Then Aisha said: I heard it, by Allah, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family.

قال مصنف هذا الكتاب: فهذه الأخبار حجة لنا على المخالفين، وصلاة الوسطى  صلاة الظهر.

The compiler of this book said: Hence, these reports are an argument in our favor against the opponents [1]. The middle prayer is the noon prayer.

حدثنا محمد بن الحسن بن أحمد بن الوليد - رضي الله عنه - قال: حدثنا محمد بن الحسن الصفار، عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى، عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي نجران، والحسين بن سعيد جميعا، عن حماد بن عيسى الجهني، عن حريز بن عبد الله السجستاني، عن زرارة بن أعين قال: سألته - يعني أبا جعفر عليه السلام - عما فرض الله عز وجل من الصلاة فقال: خمس صلوات في الليل والنهار. قلت: هل سماهن الله تعالى وبينهن في كتابه؟ فقال: نعم، قال الله تعالى لنبيه صلى الله عليه وآله: " أقم الصلاة لدلوك الشمس إلى غسق الليل " ودلوكها زوالها ففيما بين دلوك الشمس إلى غسق الليل أربع صلوات سماهن وبينهن ووقتهن، وغسق الليل انتصافه، ثم قال: " وقرآن الفجر إن قرآن الفجر كان مشهودا " فهده الخامسة، وقال تبارك وتعالى في ذلك: " أقم الصلاة طرفي النهار  " وطرفاه صلاة المغرب والغداة. " وزلفا من الليل " فهي صلاة العشاء الآخرة. وقال عز وجل: " حافظوا على الصلوات والصلاة الوسطى " وهي صلاة الظهر وهي أول صلاة صلاها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وهي وسط صلاتين بالنهار صلاة الغداة وصلاة العصر. " وقوموا لله قانتين " في صلاة الوسطى.

5.	We were told by Muhammed bin Hasan bin Ahmad bin Waleed, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin Hasan al-Saffar, from Ahmad bin Muhammed bin Isa, from Abdul-Rahman bin Abi Najran, oand Hussain bin Sa’eed, all of them, from Hammad bin Isa al-Jahni, from Huraiz bin Abdullah al-Sijistani, from Zurara bin A’yan, that he said: I asked him, meaning Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him, about what Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, has obliged with regards to prayer, so he said: Five prayers during the night and day. I said: Did Allah, Exalted is He, name them and clarify them in His Book? He said: Yes. Allah, Exalted is He, said to His Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family: «Establish the prayer at the setting of the sun until the darkness of the night» (17:78). Its setting is its vanishing. Hence, between the setting of the sun until the darkness of the night, there are four prayers which He named, clarified and set a time to. The darkness of the night is its middle-point. Then He said: «and the Qur’an of the dawn. Indeed, the Qur’an of the dawn is ever witnessed.» (17:78) This is the fifth. He, Blessed and Exalted is He, said with regards to that: «Establish the prayer at the two ends of the day» (11:114), and its two ends is the sundown and the early morning, «and at the approach of the night» (11:114), and that is the prayer of the last evening. He, Exalted and Glorious is He,also said: «Maintain the prayers, and (in particular) the middle prayer» (2:238), that is the noon prayer, and it was the first prayer the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, and it is in the middle of two prayers during the day, the prayer of the early morning and the afternoon prayer, «and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient» (2:238) during the middle prayer.

Maʿānī al-ʾAkhbār

Chapter #373