Surah 30. Ar-Rum, Ayah 17

The special times for Allah's remembrance are so described as to include all our activities in life,-when we rise early in the morning, and when we go to rest in the evening; when we are in the midst of our work, at the decline of the sun, and in the late afternoon. It may be noted that these are all striking stages in the passage of the sun through our terrestrial day, as well as stages in our daily working lives. On this are based the hours of the five canonical prayers afterwards prescribed in Madinah; viz. (1) early morning before sunrise (Fajr); (2) when the day begins to decline, just after noon (Zuhr); (3) in the late afternoon, say midway between noon and sunset ('Asr); and (4) and (5) the two evening prayers, one just after sunset (Maghrib); and the other after the evening twilight has all faded from the horizon, the hour indicated for rest and sleep ('Isha). Cf. xi. 114 nn. 1616-17; xvii. 78-79, n. 2275; xx. 130. n. 2655.