so there are likewise ninety degrees between it and the west, in the westward direction. When ninety degrees westward separate it from a place, it sets there, just as it rises when ninety degrees eastward separate it from the people there. When it reaches their meridian—the time of its culmination, before it declines and passes the meridian and the time for the noon prayer begins—it has ninety degrees to the east and ninety degrees to the west.

If this is so—and the descent mentioned in the prophetic hadith (may the finest blessings and peace be upon its speaker), recorded by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim and unanimously deemed authentic by hadith scholars, occurs:

“When the last third of the night remains.”

As for the versions mentioning a half or two-thirds, Muslim alone recorded them through some of its chains of transmission. Al-Tirmidhī said that the most authentic version reported from Abū Hurayrah is:

“When the last third of the night remains.”

It has been reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through a great many Companions, as we mentioned earlier. Thus, scholars versed in hadith regard it as a mass-transmitted hadith. What is beyond doubt is that the descent occurs when the last third of the night remains. If the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, also mentioned “the descent” when the first third of the night has passed and when half the night has passed, then his statement is true, for he is the truthful one whose truthfulness is confirmed.

The descent would then be of three kinds: first, when the first third of the night has passed; then, when half the night has passed, which is more pronounced; then, when a third of the night remains, which is the most pronounced of the three kinds.

When the expressions “night and day” are used without qualification in the language of the Lawgiver, daytime begins at dawn