Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When the stars set two rak'as should be prayed before the dawn prayer, and after the prostration two rak'as should be prayed after the sunset prayer.”
‘Umar said that he heard God’s Messenger say, “Four rak'as before the noon prayer after the sun has passed tne meridian are reckoned equivalent to a similar number at the dawn prayer.1 There is nothing which does not glorify God at that hour.” Then he recited, “Their shadows turn round from the right and the left prostrating themselves to God, and they are abject.”2
1. This is the literal translation, but commentators usually explain it as referring to night prayers at some time between midnight and dawn.
2. Al-Qur’an; 16:48
Tirmidhi and Baihaqi, in Shu'ab al- iman, transmitted it.
