and he should say, “A shot from one who is no archer,” or similar words of modesty. It is unbecoming to fix a hard stare on one’s partner while he is drawing, for that distracts him, unsettles his heart and concentration. Archers ought to abandon this practice, for its harm ultimately turns back on them.

When his turn arrives, he rises, rolls up his sleeve and hem, pronounces the Name of Allah, takes his arrows in his right hand and his bow in his left, and stands at the shooting line with courtesy, stillness, dignity, lowered gaze, poise, agility, and in reliance upon Him in whose hand lie all power and strength, asking Him to grant vigour (2) and accuracy. He places his arrows between his feet, the lower siyyah of the bow on the ground and the upper near his chest. Then he takes an arrow (3), runs it over his thumb, grips the bow deftly, nocks the arrow properly, rests it on the bow’s midpoint, and draws; when he reaches full draw he pauses briefly, then releases.

Once the arrow is loosed, he observes where it lands. If it drills straight through the target, he preserves that posture and form and maintains them every time he shoots. Should it veer to the right or left of the mark, or rise above or fall below it, he investigates the reason: is the fault in the bow, the string, the arrow, the wind, or in the archer himself—his grip, his nocking, his release, or his aim?

When he pinpoints the cause of the error he avoids it, pronouncing the Name of Allah at every shot. If he hits, he praises and extols Allah, saying, “This is by the grace of my Lord,” and if