– Shafaq (twilight): what is intended here is the red glow that remains from the rays of the setting sun.

– Midnight (nisf al-layl al-awsat): that is, the halfway point of the night. By then the first third of the night and half of the middle third have elapsed. The word “middle” qualifies “half,” and what is really meant is the first half; it is called “middle” because, when the night is divided into two equal portions, the first portion ends at the middle of the night.

– “While the sun is still clear”: meaning it is bright-white and pure, with no trace of yellow. The clause is nominal and functions as a circumstantial qualifier.

Points derived from the ḥadīth

1. The ḥadīth clarifies the times that Allah, exalted is He, has designated for performing the five obligatory prayers.

2. The five prayers are not valid unless offered within these specified times, as indicated by Allah’s words, “So establish the prayer; indeed, prayer has been prescribed for the believers at fixed times” (103) ⦗An-Nisāʾ 4:103⦘, the report recorded by Aḥmad (3071) from Ibn ʿAbbās in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “The time is between these two,” and the narration collected by al-Bukhārī (553) from Buraydah in which he said, “Whoever misses the ʿAṣr prayer, his deeds are nullified.”

   Shaykh al-Islām said: “Time cannot be recovered; once it has passed, the prayer cannot be performed within it.”
   The scholars have differed over whether a person who deliberately delays a prayer past its time without excuse must make it up or not; this will be discussed, Allah willing.

3. The time for Ẓuhr begins when the sun declines from the zenith and continues until an object’s shadow equals its own length in addition to the shadow present at midday; immediately thereafter the time for ʿAṣr begins, with no gap or overlap between them.

4. The time for ʿAṣr starts as soon as Ẓuhr ends. The preferred time lasts so long as the sun remains bright-white and clear; once it turns yellow, the time of necessity extends until sunset.