and two before Fajr”—meaning two rak‘ahs.

Perhaps some might say: These two rak‘ahs that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to pray seated after witr stand in the same relation to the witr of the night as the two rak‘ahs after Maghrib stand to the witr of the day. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Maghrib is the witr of the day, so make your night prayer odd-numbered.”

Ahmad narrated this in al-Musnad.

Although Maghrib is the witr of the day, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to pray two rak‘ahs after it. This did not cause Maghrib to cease being witr, because those two rak‘ahs complement the obligatory prayer and make up for any lapses or deficiencies in it. As transmitted in reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he said:

“A servant may finish his prayer with only half of it recorded for him, or a third, or a quarter, or a fifth”—and he went on to say, “or only a tenth.”

Thus, the Sunnah prayers were prescribed to make up for deficiencies in the obligatory prayers. Since the two rak‘ahs after Maghrib make up for deficiencies in the obligatory prayer, they do not cause it to cease being witr, just as performing the two prostrations of forgetfulness would not do so. Likewise, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made up for deficiencies in the witr of the night by praying two rak‘ahs after it. This is why he would supplement it when he prayed witr with nine, seven, or five rak‘ahs: its number of rak‘ahs fell short of eleven. Here, the shortfall in number is an outward deficiency. If he also prayed these two rak‘ahs when he prayed witr with eleven, they would then have served to make up for a deficiency in the quality of