Chapter Eight: The Eclipse Prayer

باب صَلوةَ الكُسُوفِ

بَابُ صَلٰوةِ الْكُسُوْفِ — Chapter on the Eclipse Prayer

This chapter is about the prayer of the solar eclipse [ṣalāt al-kusūf].

عَنِ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيْرٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ اَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ صَلّٰى فِيْ كُسُوْفِ الشَّمْسِ نَحْوًا مِّنْ صَلَاتِكُمْ يَرْكَعُ وَيَسْجُدُ ۔

(Reported by Aḥmad and al-Nasāʾī, and its chain is sound.)

Vocabulary: kusūf al-shams — eclipse of the sun; naḥwan — equal to, just like.

Translation: From Ḥaḍrat al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with him) [it is reported] that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, during the solar eclipse,

prayed a prayer just like your prayer, bowing (rukūʿ) and prostrating. (Aḥmad and al-Nasāʾī have reported it, and its chain is sound.)

عَنْ سَمُرَةَ بْنِ جُنْدُبٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ بَيْنَمَا اَنَا وَ غُلَامٌ مِّنَ الْاَنْصَارِ نَرْمِيْ غَرَضَيْنِ لَنَا حَتّٰى اِذَا كَانَتِ الشَّمْسُ قِيْدَ رُمْحَيْنِ اَوْ ثَلَاثَةٍ فِيْ عَيْنِ النَّاظِرِ مِنَ الْاُفُقِ اسْوَدَّتْ حَتّٰى اٰضَتْ كَاَنَّهَا تَنُّوْمَةٌ فَقَالَ اَحَدُنَا لِصَاحِبِهٖ اِنْطَلِقْ بِنَا اِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ ۔ فَوَاللّٰهِ لَيُحْدِثَنَّ شَاْنُ هٰذِهِ الشَّمْسِ لِرَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ فِيْ اُمَّتِهٖ حَدَثًا قَالَ فَدَفَعْنَا فَاِذَا هُوَ بَارِزٌ ۔ فَاسْتَقْدَمَ فَصَلّٰى فَقَامَ بِنَا كَاَطْوَلِ مَا قَامَ بِنَا فِيْ صَلٰوةٍ قَطُّ لَا نَسْمَعُ لَهٗ صَوْتًا قَالَ ثُمَّ رَكَعَ بِنَا كَاَطْوَلِ مَا رَكَعَ بِنَا فِيْ صَلٰوةٍ قَطُّ ۔ لَا نَسْمَعُ لَهٗ صَوْتًا قَالَ ثُمَّ سَجَدَ بِنَا كَاَطْوَلِ مَا سَجَدَ بِنَا فِيْ صَلٰوةٍ قَطُّ ۔ لَا نَسْمَعُ لَهٗ صَوْتًا ۔ ثُمَّ فَعَلَ فِي الرَّكْعَةِ الْاُخْرٰى مِثْلَ ذٰلِكَ ۔ [reading uncertain]"; the Urdu gloss renders it "was hidden" | حَتّٰی اٰضَتْ]

(Reported by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī, and its chain is sound.)

Vocabulary: gharaḍayn — two targets; qīda — the measure [of], about; tannūma — a blackish fruit; inṭaliq — come along, go; ka-aṭwali — as long as [the longest]; taqaddama — he went forward; āḍat — became hidden.

Translation: From Ḥaḍrat Samura ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) [it is reported]; he said: I and a boy of the Anṣār were both shooting arrows at our targets, until, when the sun, in the sight of one looking at it from the horizon, was at about the height of two or three spears, it turned black — so much so that it became hidden, as if it had become like a blackish tree [tannūma]. One of us said to his companion: "Come, let us go to the mosque. By God, this state of the sun is certainly a momentous event in the community (umma) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ." (The narrator) said that we went. So [we found] he had come out. Then he went forward and prayed, and stood (qiyām) so long as he had never done with us in any prayer; we did not hear his voice. (The narrator) said that then he bowed, so long as he had never done in any prayer; we could not hear his voice. (The narrator) said that then he prostrated so long as he had never done in any prayer; we did not hear his voice. Then in the second rakʿa too he did just the same.

(Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī have reported it, and its chain is sound.)