114 Preface وَأَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ طَرَفَيِ النَّهارِ وَزُلَفًا مِنَ اللَّيلِ ۚ إِنَّ الحَسَناتِ يُذهِبنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ۚ ذٰلِكَ ذِكرىٰ لِلذّاكِرينَYusuf AliAnd establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day1 and at the approaches of the night:2 For those things, that are good remove those that are evil:3 Be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their Lord):The two ends of the day: Morning and afternoon. The morning prayer is the Fajr, after the light is up but before sunrise: we thus get up early and begin the day with the remembrance of God and of our duty to Him. The early afternoon prayer, Zuhr, is immediately after noon : we are in the midst of our daily life, and again we remember God. (R).Approaches of the night: Zulafun, plural of Zulfatun, an approach, something near at hand. As Arabic has, like Greek, a dual number distinct from the plural, and the plural number is used here, and not the dual, it is reasonable to argue that at least three “approaches of the night” are meant. The late afternoon prayer, 'Asr, can be one of these three, and the evening prayer, Maghrib, just after sunset, can be the second. The early night prayer,' lsha' at supper time when the glow of sunset is disappearing, would be the third of the “approaches of the night”, when we commit ourselves to God before sleep. These are the five canonical prayers of Islam, (Cf. n. 3521).Those things that are good: in this context the words refer primarily to prayers and sacred thoughts, but they include all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. It is by them that we keep away everything that is evil, whether referring to the past, the present, or the future.