Bayhaqi 2096 — Dislike of delaying Asr

Hisham bin Urwah narrates from his father that Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him): Pray Asr at a time when the sun is white and bright, and a rider could cover a distance of three farsakhs (before sunset); and pray Isha by a third of the night. If you delay it, then delay it up to half the night, but do not be among the heedless. The narrator said: Malik narrated to us from Nafi', the freed slave of Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), that Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to his governors: In my view the most important of all your affairs and duties is the prayer. Whoever guards it has protected his religion, and whoever neglects it will be even more neglectful of everything else. Then he wrote: Offer the Zuhr prayer when the shadow is one cubit, up to when (the shadow of each thing) is equal to it; the time of Asr is when the sun is shining fully white (with enough time left before sunset for a man to cover two or three farsakhs); the time of Maghrib is when the sun sets; and the time of Isha is from the disappearance of the twilight until a third of the night (that is, offer the prayers in these times). Whoever sleeps (before it), may his eye not sleep; he said this three times. And offer the Fajr prayer at a time when the stars are still visible, and whoever sleeps (before it), may his eye not sleep.