[Explanation]

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—opens with the “Book of the Etiquette of Travel.”

Travel (safar) is the act of leaving one’s homeland, that is, a person’s departure from his own town to another. It is called safar because it comes from isfār, which means “uncovering” and “becoming apparent,” as in the expression asfara al-ṣubḥ, “dawn has broken and become visible.” Another explanation is that it is called safar because it uncovers people’s character; it reveals and clarifies their true state. How many a person remains unknown to you, his conduct hidden, until you journey with him—then you learn his manners, his behavior, his self-sacrifice, and so on. For this reason ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him), whenever someone vouched for another man in his presence, would ask, “Have you travelled with him? Have you done business with him?” If the answer was yes, he accepted the recommendation; if it was no, he would say, “You have no real knowledge of him.”

A traveler should also choose the times that are easier and more suitable. One of those is the end of the week, for in most of his journeys the Prophet ﷺ would set out on a Thursday. On occasion he departed on other days—his final journey, the Farewell Pilgrimage, began on a Saturday—but as a rule, whenever he travelled, especially for a military campaign, it was on a Thursday. The wisdom behind that, and Allah knows best, is that it is the day on which deeds are raised