They reply to the hadith by saying that it merely negates perfection—that is, the prayer is not fully complete. The majority answer that this interpretation contradicts both the plain wording and the immediate sense of the report. They likewise refute the second hadith in the way already quoted from Ibn Abd al-Barr (you have heard the response), and they add that the indispensable Qurʾanic recitation without which the prayer is invalid consists of three short verses; according to one narration from Abu Hanifa, even a single verse suffices, such as Allah’s words thumma nazara (74:21, “Then he looked”). Their proof-text is the verse: faqraʾu ma tayassara mina l-qurʾani (“Recite whatever is easy for you of the Qurʾan”). This argument is open to objection on several grounds: 1. The verse deals with the night vigil (qiyam al-layl), not with fixing a minimum amount of recitation in the obligatory prayers, as the context clearly indicates: Inna rabbaka yaʿlamu annaka taqumu adna min thuluthayi al-layli wa-nisfahu wa-thuluthahu wa-taʾifatun mina alladhina maʿaka… faqraʾu ma tayassara mina l-qurʾani (73:20). The occasion of revelation confirms this. Muslim (2/168–169), Ibn Nasr (2–3), and others relate—in the hadith of Saʿd ibn Hisham ibn ʿAmir from ʿAʾisha—that he asked: “Mother of the believers, tell me about the Prophet’s ﷺ night prayer.” She answered, “Do you not recite: ya ayyuhu al-muzzammil?” I said, “Indeed.” She continued, “At the beginning of this surah Allah made the night prayer obligatory; the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions observed it for a full year. Allah then withheld its conclusion in heaven for twelve months, after which He revealed the concession at the end of the surah, so the night prayer became voluntary after having been obligatory…” Accordingly, the meaning of the verse is: pray as much of the night vigil as you can. The Qurʾan speaks of the prayer in terms of its recitation, just as it sometimes refers to it by its other pillars. This explanation is given by the Hanafi exegete al-Alusi in Ruh al-Maʿani.