238 Preface حافِظوا عَلَى الصَّلَواتِ وَالصَّلاةِ الوُسطىٰ وَقوموا لِلَّهِ قانِتينَAli Quli QaraiBe watchful of your prayers, and [especially] the middle prayer,1 and stand in obedience2 to Allah; That is, the ẓuhr (noon) prayer, according to several traditions narrated from the Imams of the Prophet’s Household, as well as many traditions narrated in the Sunnī sources (see al-Tafsīr al-Burhān, al-Ṭabarī’s Jāmi‘ al-Bayān). According to other interpretations, the phrase ‘the middle prayer’ refers to the ʿaṣr (afternoon), maghrib (sunset) or fajr (dawn) prayer.Or ‘stand humbly’ (or ‘prayerfully,’ ‘devoutly’) before Allah.