Benefit: Fawāshī refers to any property that ranges about freely, such as sheep and grazing camels; it is the plural of fāshiyah. One says that a man has afshā when his roaming livestock become numerous. Fahmat al-ʿishāʾ means the intense blackness of the night. This occurs at the beginning of the night; then, once its surge has subsided, the darkness lessens. Its blackness is likened to that of charcoal.

It means: Do not travel at the beginning of the night, when the darkness first intensifies; rather, wait until the darkness becomes moderate. Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: The darkness between the two prayers is called al-fahmah, and the darkness between the night prayer and dawn is called al-ʿasʿasah.

Thus stated in Sharḥ al-Sunnah (11/394).

Note: Abu al-Zubayr’s version in which he merely says “from” uniquely mentions: “… your roaming livestock” in the hadith. This is not found in Sufyan’s report from him, in which he explicitly states transmission, nor in the reports of the reliable narrators who corroborated him, such as ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, as mentioned above from the two Ṣaḥīḥs. It occurs in Ibn Jurayj’s narration from him.

He was corroborated by ʿAmr ibn Dīnār. Ibn Jurayj said immediately afterward:

“ʿAmr ibn Dīnār informed me that he heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh say something similar to what ʿAṭāʾ informed me.”

Both al-Bukhārī (3304) and Muslim (6/109) also recorded it, as did Abū ʿAwānah (5/333).

Accordingly, I fear that this addition is not preserved, unless another chain or supporting report for it can be found; otherwise, it is rejected or anomalous. This is the conclusion I consider most likely after extensive investigation. And Allah Most High knows best. *