And when the rulings regarding women were mentioned and elaborated upon until the vastness of reason became constricted by their spread, and it almost got lost in the expanse of their domain, along with what exists of the possibility of inclination due to love and aversion due to hatred, which leads to grievances and distractions with children and other trials and calamities that the scope of limitation cannot encompass, and some of them may lead to negligence in prayer, indeed, in every act of worship, it necessitated that it be said: O Lord! Indeed, man is weak, and in some of that, he has distractions from every important matter. So, is there any room left for Your worship? It was said: 'Maintain' in the form of mutual action indicating utmost determination, meaning that some of you should compete with each other in that. It is permissible that this is in relation to the servant and his Lord, so the meaning is: Maintain your prayers for Him so that He may maintain His prayers for you, and He does not act in it like the forgetful one, thus leaving your honor with it. A shorter way to say it is: When He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned what is between the servants, especially, He mentioned what is between Him and them and said: -

And Al-Harali said: When what was revealed to him was the establishment of three matters: the establishment of the matter of religion, which is what is between the servant and his Lord, the management of the worldly affairs, which is the abode of the servant's trial, and the rectification of the affairs of the Hereafter and the return, which is the place of the servant's settlement, what is mentioned regarding the rulings of managing the world became a dim light of its stars, the rulings of the matter of religion. Therefore, the emergence of the stars of the discourses of religion during the discourses of worldly matters will be that the discourse of the matter is a star amidst the discourses of the forbidden and the permissible in worldly matters; and indeed, the star of this discourse is for the maintenance of prayer because this mentioned dispute between spouses regarding what occurs from dislike in souls and contention over wealth has indeed occurred due to the neglect of maintaining the prayers, for prayer is a blessing in sustenance and a weapon against enemies and a source of hatred for Satan; thus, it is a deterrent against the matters that cause souls to feel constricted and accept whispers and be approached by stinginess. Therefore, in understanding the star of this discourse amidst these rulings, the matter of maintaining the prayers is to ensure that their affairs proceed in a manner that protects them from confusion regarding all of these rulings - ended.

So He, exalted is He, said: 'Maintain'.

Al-Harali said: Preservation is a mutual action derived from protection. It is the care of the action in knowledge, form, time, and establishment by all that which constitutes its essence and completes its action. It culminates in its perfection. He indicated the perfection of readiness for that by the tool of elevation, saying: 'upon the prayers.' He gathered and defined so that it encompasses all its types. That is, act in preserving them as one who debates another about it, for there is no escape from it in any situation, not even in a state of fear of loss. For indeed, in preserving it lies the perfection of the affairs of this world and the Hereafter, especially the flow of provisions and the humiliation of enemies. 'And command your family to prayer and be steadfast in it' [Taha: 132] and 'Seek help through patience and prayer' [Al-Baqarah: 153]. 'The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when a matter troubled him, would hasten to prayer.' There is no doubt that the term is suitable for including the funeral prayer within it. The clarity is further enhanced by the juxtaposition of the verses of death with this verse, both preceding and following.

And al-Harali said: Indeed, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, gives the world based on the intention of the Hereafter and refuses to give the Hereafter based on the intention of the world. The condition of a person in his world and his Hereafter is indeed based on the condition of his religion. The essence of his religion and its foundation is his faith and his prayers. Whoever preserves the prayers, Allah will rectify his condition in this world and the Hereafter. In preserving them, the requirements of their performance flow as Islamic actions, with humility and sincere faith, and witnessing and excellence. Thus, the preservation of them is completed. The first of this is purification through the use of water according to the ruling of the Sunnah and following the meanings of wisdom, as in wiping the ears along with the head. For whoever separates between them will hardly complete the purification of his soul with what wisdom has indicated and the Sunnah has established, and the actions of the scholars have diverted the generality of the heedless creation from it. Then, the commitment to repentance, for the purification of the heart is repentance just as the purification of the body and soul is water and dust. Whoever prays without renewing his repentance prays as one who is in a state of ritual impurity. Then, the presence of the heart in the Oneness of Allah during the call to prayer and the establishment of prayer, for whoever's heart is heedless during the call to prayer and the establishment of prayer from the Oneness of Allah, the spirit of his prayer is diminished, so it does not have the pillar of standing. Whoever's heart is present during the call to prayer and the establishment of prayer, his heart is present in his prayer, and whoever's heart is heedless during them, his heart is heedless in his prayer. Then, its form in the completion of its bowing and prostration, and the utterance of every practical pillar with the remembrance of Allah, is specified by the least being three times. There is no action in prayer without utterance. And Allah does not accept the prayer of one who does not establish his back in his bowing, prostration, standing, and sitting. By the deficiency in its completion, the preservation of it is diminished, and by neglecting the preservation of it, the enemies of the soul take control of it, and avarice follows it, so the rulings are transferred upon it, and the hardships of the world are multiplied upon it. And there is no worker who works during the time of prayer or at the time of the call to prayer except that it is a burden upon him and upon those who benefit from his work. And what he takes as a reward in it is the toil of evil that does not yield for him a righteous deed nor peace of soul in his present life or his Hereafter. Especially after Allah has granted the creation from the rising of their sun until its zenith six hours, so there is no right for their world in the remaining six. So how if they are demanded from it at the times of the call to prayer and the prayer? And what work is diminished from prayer? Thus, the preservation of the prayers is the essence of rectifying the conditions of the creation with their spouses in all their conditions.

﴿And the middle prayer﴾ means specifically that it is the best of the prayers because it is the one most associated with this final Prophet, as has been explained at the beginning of the Surah in His saying: ﴿Seek help through patience and prayer﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 153]. So He, glorified and exalted is He, specified it with additional emphasis and concealed it to ensure the preservation of all. For this reason, He concealed the Night of Decree in Ramadan, the hour of response on Friday, the Greatest Name among all names, and the time of death as an encouragement to repent at every moment.

And Al-Harali said: There is not a single phrase except that it has a flower, so in the prayers, there is that which is like the choice among the phrases, and its choice is the middle one. For this reason, the Exalted specified the choice of prayers with mention, and He mentioned it with a description in a way that includes the specific middle prayer of this nation, which is the 'Asr prayer' that has not been valid for others among the nations. And to encompass the general middle prayer for all nations and for this nation, which is the 'Fajr prayer', and for this reason, the scope for taking it by description has expanded among the scholars in it. Then their views extended to all of it due to the ambiguity in its mention until the preservation in all is confirmed in some way. And in the reading of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her: 'And the prayer of 'Asr' - this conjunction indicates the apparent conjunction of the middle prayer with the 'Fajr' as some scholars have seen. And there is room for its reference to 'the middle prayer' itself to be a conjunction of descriptions, and its naming as 'the 'Asr' is a commendation and description in that 'Asr' is the essence of time just as the extracts of things are their essences.

﴿Then there will come after that a year in which the people will be aided and in which they will press﴾ [Yusuf: 49]. So the 'Asr' of the day is an essence for its safety from the heat of the midday and the darkness of the night, and for the moderation of conditions and bodies and souls between the needs of lunch and dinner, which is their concern with the need for sustenance. And from the expression of the Arabs, the conjunction of the complete descriptions is said: 'So-and-so is generous and brave' - if both descriptions are complete in him. But if they fall short of completeness, it is said: 'Generous, brave' - by following. Thus, the meaning of this reading can be accepted that the middle prayer is the 'Asr' as a conjunction of two fixed descriptions for one matter - it has ended.

And what he, may Allah have mercy on him, said is clarified by their saying about the pomegranate: it is sweet and sour - without conjunction. Its proof is that they said: when sentences follow one another without conjunction, that indicates the completeness of the connection between them. Thus, the second one is either a reason for the first or a continuation based on the assumption of a question from a questioner, and similar to that is what the rhetoricians have said in the chapter of separation and connection. If the first statement did not indicate the second sentence's need for it, there would be no motivator for the question, unlike when they are conjoined, which indicates that each one of them is independent of what follows it, and that indicates completeness. As for the names of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, their succession without conjunction is because none of them conveys the entire meaning of the proper name of the essence. Therefore, He, glorified and exalted is He, concluded the verses of Surah Al-Hashr with His saying: "To Him belong the best names" [Al-Hashr: 24]. This means that these names mentioned are among what the meaning of the proper name implies, whether we say it is derived or not. And whatever has a good description that befits Him, glorified and exalted is He, is among what the greatest name indicates. Because the one who deserves worship can only be one who possesses all the attributes of perfection, or because when the souls were created and the hearts were inclined towards the knowledge that He, glorified and exalted is He, is free from the blemishes of deficiency and possesses the attributes of perfection, the omission of conjunction in them indicates that. And whatever is conjoined from them is for a meaning that calls for it, as will be clarified, if Allah, glorified and exalted is He, wills in its places. And I have no doubt that the one who denies when he falls into hardship is brought out and overwhelmed by calamity, which incapacitates him and burns his heart, and causes his tears to flow. His heart turns, out of necessity, to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, for His relief, and he humbles himself to Him for the removal of what He has instilled in his nature of His perfection, greatness, and majesty, being oblivious to what he acquires from bad companions of bad beliefs and his own stubbornness towards them. And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, knows best; so here is a precious principle that I have long sought and asked the virtuous about, but I did not find it. I pondered in the gardens of the arts and the important sciences until I envisioned it. Then after I completed my interpretation, I saw that Al-Kashaf referred to it in the verse: "And those who seek forgiveness in the early hours of the morning" [Aal Imran: 17] in Surah Aal Imran - and Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is the one who grants success.

And when He commanded to maintain it, He followed it with the gathering of that by saying: "And stand for Allah" meaning the One who has glory and honor, "devout" meaning obedient - this was said by Al-Hasan, Sa'id ibn Jubair, Al-Sha'bi, Ata, Qatadah, and Tawus.

And Al-Tabarani narrated in Al-Awsat, and Imam Ahmad and Abu Ya'la Al-Mawsili in their Musnads, and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih from Abu Sa'id, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Every letter of remembrance from the qunut in the Qur'an is obedience." It was said: Qunut is silence. In the two Sahihs from Zayd ibn Arqam, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "We used to talk during the prayer; a man would speak to his companion beside him about his need until the verse was revealed: ﴿And stand before Allah in obedience﴾, so we were commanded to be silent and forbidden from speaking."

And Mujahid said: Khashi'in (humble), and it was said otherwise. When the original meaning of this word is known linguistically, it is understood that the intended meaning is: Mukhlisīn (sincere), and to this returns all that they have said. This is because the root of the word qanata, in any arrangement, revolves around the concept of humility, from the meaning of qatin for little flesh and food. And qatan the musk when it dries, it requires attraction and release. If it were not for the attraction of the parts for the removal of what is between them from the barrier, it would not have been humble. And from this is a woman who is natq (speaking) when she is fertile, as if she attracts all the sperm to achieve what becomes of it the child. Or that when the greatest purpose of intercourse is the child, it is as if she is specifically engaged in attracting the sperm, and that attracting others is non-existence. Or as if she attracts the child from her womb and brings him forth. This is from the natq of the water skin, which is its shaking until it pulls out what is in it and releases it. And from this is the Bayt Al-Ma'mur, the natq of the Ka'bah, meaning it overlooks it from above; if it were to attract something from the ground, it would be that, for it is facing it. And from the concept of humility is: Al-Qan - for the gathering of water; it is the sediment that remains in the basin, for it is prepared for the attraction of the water. And humility requires precision for the quality of the arrangement in the parts for their release from a barrier. And from this is: a matter that is well-executed, meaning precise; and: a man who is qin - if he is skilled in things, he is pure in opinion. And it requires sincerity, humility, and modesty, so that obedience comes with supplication and otherwise, for it is the gathering of concern upon the one who is obeyed: ﴿Is he who is devout during the night?﴾ [Az-Zumar: 9] and similar to that. And Al-Qan also means nature, for it is the secret of the thing and its essence. And from this is eloquence from: Taqan of so-and-so, meaning his nature; and it requires humility to stand, for it is humility in relation to the rest of the forms. And from this is: the best prayer is the length of the qunut.

Silence is a form of contraction in relation to speech. It necessitates dryness and withering, and from it is the contraction of clay that loses its water, becoming dry and cracking. There is also scarcity, and from it is a bloodless flea, meaning little blood. Thus, silence and precision also come. If you review the meanings of this root, which are qanata, qatana, taqana, and nataka from the books of language, you will gain insight into this. When this is known, it is understood that the verse applies to the hadith and is compatible with all the sayings of the scholars, may Allah be pleased with them. This is because when the prayer is performed sincerely, there is no saying or action in it that is not part of it, and that is pure obedience and humility.

Al-Harali said: Qunoot is the steadfastness upon the matter of goodness and its action. This is because the act of goodness and righteousness is easy for most, but steadfastness and continuity are difficult for them. Among the aspects of qunoot is the persistence of the truth in what has been brought in prayer, so that there is no turning to the creation. Therefore, silence from the creation is necessary in its meaning, because the words of people interrupt the continuity of supplication. Thus, it indicates that whoever stands for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, in his prayer, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, establishes his state in this world in his establishment and with his family. This is as indicated by the meaning of the verse: 'And command your family to pray and be steadfast in it. We do not ask you for provision; We provide for you.' [Ta-Ha: 132] In it, there is an indication that prayer rectifies the state with the family and brings blessings in provision - this is the end.

And the hadith of Zayd is explicit that the prayer at the beginning was not upon the limits that it later became; it is possible that the action was permissible in it just as speech was. This is supported by the fact that the original state of things is permissibility until a text comes with prohibition. With this, the ambiguity in the hadith of the one with two hands is resolved, as it implies the permissibility of saying and acting for the one praying if he thinks he has completed the prayer or forgets that he is in it. 'For the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, prayed one of the two prayers of the evening and greeted from two rak'ahs, then he went to a piece of wood in a corner of the mosque and leaned on it, and the people quickly left. When the one with two hands informed him of the situation, he asked the people, and they confirmed it to him. He returned and completed the prayer.' The hadith is undated, so it is possible that it was before the prohibition of actions and sayings by this verse. The possibility of the permissibility of actions at first is supported by following the verse in His saying: 'So if you fear...' meaning in a state of the jihad that has been mentioned, which is 'prescribed for you' or something similar, from an enemy or a beast or a debtor from whom it is permissible to flee or otherwise. 'Then standing' means standing on your feet, which is the plural of rajil in that it is closer to the form of prayer.

Al-Baghawi said: Meaning, if you cannot pray while being steadfast in the prayer's rights due to fear, then pray walking on your feet or riding on the backs of the animals in a manner that allows for stability.

And al-Harali said: There is no ruling that Allah has legislated in times of ease except that He has established it in times of hardship and necessity, such that no blessing from the state of ease is lost in its constriction. This is so that one knows that the bounty of Allah is not diminished by time nor is it lost by condition. And in this, there is an indication that the preservation of prayer in its reality is only in the complete attentiveness of the heart to the Lord. So whatever the condition allows beyond that, he acts upon it; otherwise, he suffices with its reality. For this reason, the prayer in times of great fear ends for the scholars with a single Takbir, to which the blessing of the four rak'ahs that occur in times of ease is gathered. And in it, in its state of blessing in the expansion of provision and the righteousness of the family, is what occurs in the reality of ease, along with addressing the support for the determination to establish it in the face of fear. And it has been clarified by the difference in the conditions of the fear prayer that its reality has no fixed form. Indeed, fourteen forms have been authentically reported from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, along with additional forms in the good hadiths - it has ended.

And al-Bukhari narrated in the tafsir: 'From Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, regarding the manner of the fear prayer. Then he said: If there is a fear greater than that, they pray standing on their feet or riding, facing the qibla or not facing it.' Malik said: Nafi' said: I do not see that Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, mentioned that except from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him - meaning that such a thing is not said by opinion. 'And when you are secure' means when security has been granted to you from what was causing you fear.

And since the greatest intended purpose of prayer is remembrance, which is the continuity of the heart's presence, he indicated that the fear prayer makes this difficult, alerting by the Greatest Name to what confirms presence in prayer and in everything that is called remembrance. 'So remember Allah' means the One to whom belongs all command. Al-Baghawi said: That is, perform the five prayers completely with their rights.

And Al-Harali said: He made clear the purpose in the act of prayer and that it is indeed the remembrance which is the standing of security and fear. It is as if, glorified and exalted is He, when He prohibited what is not from prayer of sayings and actions, He excluded the actions during fear, so they remained on the original ruling. However, Al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated and stated it in the book of the differences of hadith from Al-Um, and Abu Dawood and Al-Nasa'i through the route of Asim ibn Abi Al-Najood from Abu Wa'il, 'from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: We used to greet the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, while he was in prayer.' The hadith indicates that when he returned from Abyssinia, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: Indeed, Allah brings about what He wills, and among what He has brought about is that you do not speak during prayer.' He ruled that it was said the hadith of Dhul-Yadayn, due to what is in some of its routes which necessitate that his return was before the migration of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to Medina, and it is so. However, Asim has errors in the hadith, and although he is a proof in recitation, his hadith does not hold strong against the opposition of what is in the two Sahihs from the hadith of Zayd, which is limited by the revelation of the verse.

And Al-Baqarah is Medinan, as is in the Sahih regarding the virtues of the Qur'an: 'From Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: The Surah of Al-Baqarah and An-Nisa were not revealed except while I was with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.' And in it regarding marriage and others that he, blessings and peace be upon him, married her when she was nine years old, and she stayed with him for nine years, so that would be in the second year of the migration.

And Al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said in the Risalah in the chapter of another aspect of the abrogating and abrogated: Muhammad ibn Abi Fadlik informed us from Ibn Abi Dhihb from Al-Maqburi from Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Sa'id Al-Khudri from Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: 'We were detained with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, on the day of the trench from prayer until it was after sunset, and it was dark at night until we were relieved. And that is the saying of Allah, glorified and exalted is He: "And Allah sufficed the believers in battle, and Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty" [Al-Ahzab: 25]. He said: Then the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called Bilal and commanded him, so he established the Dhuhr prayer, and he prayed it well as he used to pray it at its time. Then he established the Asr prayer likewise, then he established the Maghrib prayer and prayed it likewise, then he established the Isha prayer and prayed it likewise; and that was before Allah, glorified and exalted is He, revealed regarding the prayer of fear: "So if you fear, then [pray] standing or riding".

The two Shaykhs also narrated the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, with the wording: "We used to greet the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, while he was in prayer, and he would respond to us. When we returned from the Najashi, we greeted him, but he did not respond to us and said: 'Indeed, in prayer there is distraction.'" However, this is not explicit in prohibiting speech, so the previous possibility returns. If the reality is that the hadith of Zayd is later, then what I said stands; otherwise, what should be said is that there is no difference between speech and action, because the inclusion of the hadith of the one with two hands is the same in both, as confirmed by the author of the completion among the companions of Al-Shafi'i. It was also reported from the choice of Shaykh Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi in his book Al-Tahqiq, and al-Subki and others among the later scholars followed him in this. The words of Al-Shafi'i are clear in this, for he said in response to those who attributed to him that he contradicted in deriving from the mentioned hadith: 'You have contradicted its origin and branch, and we have not contradicted from its origin nor from its branch even a single letter.' This is his text in the book Al-Risalah.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, commanded the remembrance at the time of safety, He justified it by saying: ﴿As He taught you﴾, meaning for the sake of His favor upon you by creating in you the knowledge that saves from ignorance. So, the 'kaf' is for justification. Abu Hayyan permitted this in Al-Nahr and quoted it in another place from the grammarians - and Allah, glorified and exalted is He, knows best. ﴿What you did not know﴾ by what He has given you through the tongue of this noble Prophet of the rulings that have preceded in this detailed surah with the wonders of secrets from the foundations and the subtleties of all sciences.

And Al-Harali said: Among the rulings of the state of prayer in the limbs and the body, and its state in the soul is humility, submission, and freeing oneself from whispers, and its state in the heart is glorification and sanctity. In his indication is what lies beyond the apparent knowledge from the secrets of the hearts that are exclusive to the leaders of this nation - this has ended.