Glossary of unusual expressions
rāḥa: in classical usage it can mean “to set out toward evening,” but it is also employed more generally for “to go.” The latter sense is intended here, hence the phrase refers to setting out early in the morning for the Friday prayer. The word is still used with this meaning in Najd, the Ḥijāz, and parts of greater Syria.
dajājah (chicken): the dāl may be read with fatḥah or kasrah. The word applies to both the male and the female; its plural forms are dajāj and dajājij. ḥaḍarat-al-malāʾikah (“the angels were present”): the ḍād may likewise be read with fatḥah or kasrah; both readings are correct. Al-Māzarī, in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, states categorically that the task of these angels is to record those who arrive for Friday prayer.
budnah: a term that can be used for a she-camel, a he-camel, or a cow, although it is most commonly applied to camels; that is what is meant in this ḥadith.

Overall meaning
The Prophet ﷺ explains the merit of bathing and setting out early for Friday prayer and clarifies the graduated rewards attached to that practice.
• Whoever bathes on Friday before leaving for the mosque and then goes in the first hour receives the reward of one who has offered a budnah, and it is accepted from him.
• Whoever goes in the second hour is as though he has presented a cow.
• Whoever goes in the third hour is as though he has sacrificed a ram with full horns—generally the finest and most desirable of rams.
• Whoever goes in the fourth hour is as though he has offered a chicken.
• Whoever goes in the fifth hour is as though he has offered an egg.
Once the imam emerges for the sermon and the prayer, the angels assigned to record the arrivals close their registers and turn to listen to the remembrance. Anyone who comes after they have departed is not counted among those who came early.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith
1- It highlights the virtue of performing ghusl on Friday, and that it should be done before setting out for the prayer.
2- It encourages going early, from the first hours of the morning.
3- The rewards mentioned are contingent upon both bathing and going early.
4- The gradation of reward corresponds to the order of arrival.
5- A budnah is superior to a cow as an offering, just as a cow is superior to a sheep.
6- A horned ram is better than other kinds of sheep for sacrificial offering and for the uḍḥiyah (ritual sacrifice).