— because it functions as a direct object, and the entire clause stands in the accusative position as an adjective describing his phrase “rajulan” (a man).

– ʾukhālifu: Al-Ṣiḥāḥ states that khālafa ilā fulān means “to go to someone in his absence.” Here the sense is: I would act contrary to what I have outwardly shown of establishing the prayer while some people are engaged in it.

– buyūtihim: plural of bayt. The author of al-Mughrib says: bayt originally denotes a roofed structure, so called because one spends the night (yubātu) beneath it.

– ʿirqan: with a fatḥa on the ʿayn, sukoon on the rāʾ, then a qāf; plural ʿirāq. It is the bone from which most of the flesh has been sliced, yet it still carries thin, tasty strips of meat. The hadith couples the fattiness of the bone with the delicacy of the two marmātayn so as to stir a person’s desire to obtain them.

– wa-marmātayn: dual of marmāh—mīm with kasrah, rāʾ sukoon, mīm fatḥa, followed by an alif and a feminine tāʾ. It denotes the meat lying between a sheep’s ribs; some say: the flesh between any two of its ribs.

Next, the conjunction thumma (then) occurs in this ḥadith three times, ascending from what is least severe to what is more severe and finally to the most severe; each stage is higher than the one before it, according to the gravity of the action that follows it.

What may be derived from the ḥadith:
1 – Congregational prayer in the mosques is an individual obligation upon adult men, according to the soundest scholarly view.
2 – Whoever abandons the congregational prayer without a valid excuse deserves a deterrent punishment.
3 – The ʿIshāʾ and Fajr prayers hold particular merit, because attending them involves hardship and brings a greater reward.
4 – These two prayers feel burdensome only to people of idleness and laziness: the impulse of faith is weak in their hearts, so comfort, ease, and sleep prevail. Moreover, they are not seen at these two prayers and therefore are not missed.