This hadith was also narrated by a number of Companions, including Alī ibn Abī Tālib, Ibn Abbās, Ibn Masūd, Ibn Umar, Abū Hurayra, Anas ibn Mālik, Abd Allah ibn Salām, al-Nawwās ibn Samān, Imrān ibn Husayn, Jābir ibn Abd Allah, and others—may Allah be pleased with them all.1 It is firmly established from the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.

In view of the importance of this time, its immense blessing, and the abundance of good it contains, the salaf—may Allah have mercy upon them—disliked sleeping during it and wasting it through laziness and inactivity. Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy upon him—the eminent scholar and educator, says in his book Madārij al-Sālikīn: “Among the things they regarded as disliked—that is, the salaf, may Allah have mercy upon them—was sleeping between the Fajr prayer and sunrise, for it is a time of great gain. Journeying at that time holds a tremendous distinction for the spiritual wayfarers. Even if they had journeyed throughout the night, they would not allow themselves to stop journeying at that time until the sun had risen. It is the beginning of the day and its key, the time when provisions descend, shares are apportioned, and blessings alight. From it the day unfolds, and the condition of the entire day follows the condition of that portion. Sleeping during it should therefore be only as one sleeps under necessity.” End quote.2

Among the reports transmitted from the salaf—may Allah have mercy upon them—in this regard is that Abd Allah ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with him and his father—saw one of his sons sleeping in the morning and said to him, “Get up! Do you sleep at the hour when provisions are apportioned?”3

It is also narrated that Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-Ās—may Allah be pleased with him and his father—said, “Sleep is of three kinds: the sleep of ineptitude, the sleep of good habit, and the sleep of folly. As for the sleep of ineptitude