with it when he led the Prophet ﷺ in prayer (1), and because Allah the Exalted began with it when He mentioned the prayer times, saying:

“Establish prayer from the declining of the sun…” [al-Isra’: 78]

Some scholars begin with Fajr (2), because it is the first prayer of the day, and because beginning with it makes the Asr prayer the middle prayer in terms of numerical order. The matter is easy: whether we begin with Zuhr or with Fajr, what matters is that we know the prayer times.

His statement, “until an object’s shadow equals its length,” means its shade, “after the noon shadow.” Some linguists say that fay’ is the shadow after the sun has passed its zenith; before that, it is called zill (shade), not fay’. What they say has some basis, because fay’ is derived from fā’a yafī’u, meaning “to return,” as though the shade has returned after the place had been illuminated. But that which has remained present is not called fay’, because it has never ceased to be shaded.

Thus, his statement, “when an object’s shadow equals its length after the noon shadow,” refers to the fact that when the sun rises, an upright object casts a shadow toward the west—and an upright object