number twenty—the hour on Friday when supplications are answered. This discussion of Friday’s distinctive features occupies pages (445 - 533) of the first volume of our edition.

In the second volume, devoted to zakat, fasting, and pilgrimage, he did not explain the rulings of zakat in detail. Rather, he confined himself to identifying the types of wealth subject to zakat and explaining the wisdom behind the amounts collected from them. He did, however, discuss zakat on honey and the scholars’ disagreement over it at length. He described the Prophet’s guidance, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning zakat al-fitr and its payment before the Eid prayer, and his guidance concerning voluntary charity. He then digressed into explaining what brings openness and ease to the heart and how these causes were fully realized in the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. With this, he concluded his discussion of zakat.

In the chapter on fasting, he gave a concise account of fasting and the Prophet’s guidance, peace and blessings be upon him, during Ramadan. He discussed only certain questions in detail, such as continuing a fast beyond sunset without breaking it, fasting on a day when clouds obscure the crescent or on the day of doubt, and what does and does not invalidate a fast. He devoted an extensive discussion to fasting on the day of ‘Āshūrā’, the difficulties raised concerning it, and the answers to them. He concluded by explaining the Prophet’s guidance, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning voluntary fasting and devotional retreat.

In the chapter on pilgrimage, the author’s purpose was to recount the Prophet’s pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimages he performed, peace and blessings be upon him, and to explain the errors of those who gave mistaken accounts of his lesser pilgrimages, pilgrimage, and entry into the state of consecration. Within this account, he digressed into discussing well-known questions of pilgrimage over which scholars differed, presenting and examining their arguments. He followed this with an account of the Prophet’s guidance, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning pilgrimage offerings, Eid sacrifices, and sacrifices offered upon a child’s birth; his guidance concerning names and kunyahs (parental appellations); and his guidance concerning remembrance of Allah. Here he gathered the remembrances for morning, evening, and various occasions, so that this section became a self-contained book of remembrances transmitted from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

In the third volume, devoted to jihad, military expeditions, and biographical accounts, the author’s intention was not