by [email protected]
In May 1991, a reader of soc.religion.islam posted a careful Qur'an-only survey of every verse that refers to times of prayer or worship. The post is a piece of Quranic textual scholarship: working through the Arabic directly, mapping each time-reference across seventeen surahs, and arriving at a striking conclusion. The five daily prayers established by hadith — including the afternoon 'asr prayer — do not all appear by name in the Qur'an. The 'asr prayer, in particular, finds no explicit mention. The chart at the end of the post lays out all Qur'anic prayer-time vocabulary in a single grid, one of the more unusual documents to emerge from early Islamic Usenet.
One sees five times during a day in 20:130, but no other places. No verses include an 'asr (afternoon) prayer.
The translator Asad did not translate some times in an exact manner.
In the charts below, "bod" means "beginning of daylight" and "eod" means "end of daylight."
Times of prayer referenced in the Qur'an:
- The midmost (alwust.aa) prayer — 2:238 (alternate interpretation)
- The two ends of daylight (t.arafii alnahaar), early watches of the night (zulafan min alleil) — 11:114
- The sun has passed zenith (duluuk) till the darkness of night (ghasaq alleil), recitation at dawn (fajr) — 17:78
- Rise from sleep and pray during the night as a free offering — 17:79
- Before risings of the sun (t.uluu' alshams), before sunset (ghuruub), some hours of the night (alleil) and day (at.araaf alnahaar — ends of daylight — dawn and dusk) — 20:130 [*Asad translation irregularity]
- Morning (ghuduu) and evening (aas.aal — time just before sunset) — 24:36
- Daybreak (fajr), middle of the day (z.ahiira) and nightfall ('ishaa) — 24:58
- Enter upon the evening hours (h(1)iina tumsuun — approach evening) and rising at morning (h(1)iina tus.bih(1)uun — approach the morning) — 30:17
- Noon (h(1)iina tuz.hiruun — approaching noon) and afternoon ('ashiyaan — nightfall) — 30:18 [*Asad translation irregularity]
- Impelled to rise from their beds at night — 32:16
- Morning (bukratan) and evening (as.iilaan — time just before sunset) — 33:42
- Eventide (al'ashii) and sunrise (alishraaq) — 38:18
- Evening (al'ishii) and morning (alibkaar) — 40:55
- Before sunrise (t.uluu' alshams) and before sunset (ghuruub) — 50:39
- And in the night — 50:40
- Lying asleep during a small part of the night — 51:17
- Whenever rising from sleep — 52:48
- At night and at the time when the stars retreat (idbara alnujuum) — 52:49
- Half the night or more — 73:2–4
- Morning (bukratan) and evening (as.ilaan — time just before sunset) — 76:25
- During some of the night and throughout the long night — 76:26
Summary of Qur'anic prayer-time vocabulary:
- fajr (dawn) — 17:78, 24:58
- when the stars retreat — 52:49
- beginning of daylight (one of the two ends of daylight) — 11:114, 20:130
- before sunrise — 20:130, 50:39
- approach of morning — 30:17
- morning (b.k.r) — 33:42, 40:55, 76:25
- morning (gh.d.w) — 24:36
- approaching noon (z..h.r) — 30:18
- midmost prayer (w.s.t.) — 2:238
- noon (z..h.r) — 24:58
- after zenith — 17:78
- before sunset — 24:36, 50:39 — (a.s..l) — 24:36, 33:42, 76:25
- end of daylight (one of the two ends of daylight) — 11:114, 20:130
- approach of evening — 30:17
- as night advances — 11:114
- darkness of night — 17:78
- evening ('.sh.w) — 24:58, 30:18, 40:55
Cross-reference grid (by surah):
fajr bod sunrise morning noon afternoon a.s..l sunset eod '.sh.w l.i.l
11:114 50:39 24:36 2:238 24:36 50:39 11:114 11:114
20:130 20:130 33:42 30:18 33:42 20:130 20:130 30:18 20:130
17:78 40:55 17:78 40:55 17:78
24:58 76:25 24:58 76:25 24:58 17:79
...30:17... ...30:17... 32:16
50:40
51:17
52:48
.52:49. 52:49
73:2-4
.76:26.
Colophon
Posted to soc.religion.islam, May 17, 1991. Author: [email protected], University of Kansas. Posted through the Caltech NNTP server (Behnam Sadeghi, moderator). Archived from the UTZOO Usenet mirror. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.
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