In any case, we hold that there is nothing wrong with a person reciting a single verse from a surah, whether in an obligatory or a voluntary prayer. This may also be supported by the general import of Allah’s saying: “So recite whatever is easy for you of the Quran” [al-Muzzammil: 20]. Yet the sunnah, and what is better, is to recite a surah; and better still is to complete it within each rak'ah. If this is difficult, however, there is no harm in dividing the surah between the two rak'ahs. On one occasion, the Prophet ﷺ recited Surah al-Mu'minun, and when he reached the account of Moses and Aaron, he was overcome by a cough and bowed (1). This shows that it is permissible to divide a surah, especially when there is a need.

His statement, “a surah,” entails that before reciting the surah one should say, “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” Accordingly, the basmalah is repeated twice: once for al-Fatihah and once for the surah. But if one recites from the middle of a surah, one does not say the basmalah, for Allah has commanded nothing upon reciting the Quran other than seeking refuge in Him; and the basmalah is not recited in the middle portions of surahs, whether in prayer or otherwise.

“[The recitation] in the Fajr prayer should be from the longer surahs of al-Mufassal,” …

His statement, “in the Fajr prayer should be from the longer surahs of al-Mufassal,” means that the surah recited in the Fajr prayer should be from the longer divisions of al-Mufassal. The word ṭiwāl is pronounced with a kasrah on the first letter; it should not be pronounced ṭuwāl, for ṭuwāl is an adjective describing a tall man, whereas ṭiwāl is the plural of ṭawīlah, meaning: one of the longer surahs of al-Mufassal.

Al-Mufassal is divided into three sections, as indicated by the author’s words: longer, shorter, and intermediate. Its longer section extends from Surah Qaf to Surah al-Naba'.