—I reply: The evidence is the report transmitted by al-Tahawi (1/145), by Abu Dawud in his Masail (pp. 64–65), by Ibn Nasr (pp. 134–136), and by al-Bayhaqi (2/210–211) through several separate chains, all stating that Umar performed the fajr qunut with that very supplication—according to one version before the bowing (ruku) and according to another after it. Al-Bayhaqi judged some of those chains to be sound. Umar’s qunut with this formula was limited to times of hardship (*nawazil*), as is clear from the words he would recite immediately beforehand: “O Allah, curse the disbelievers among the People of the Book who bar others from Your path, deny Your messengers, and fight Your friends. O Allah, set their words against one another, shake their footing, and send down upon them Your punishment which You never withhold from a criminal people. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate. O Allah, we seek Your help …” and so forth. This version is recorded by al-Bayhaqi and others, and it ends with the phrase: “Surely Your punishment will overtake the unbelievers.”