17الصّابِرينَ وَالصّادِقينَ وَالقانِتينَ وَالمُنفِقينَ وَالمُستَغفِرينَ بِالأَسحارِMuhammad Asadthose who are patient in adversity, and true to their word, and truly devout, and who spend [in God's way], and pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts.1The expression bi'l-ashar is usually taken to mean "at the times before daybreak", or simply "before daybreak". This is in agreement with the Prophet's recommendation to his followers (forthcoming from several authentic Traditions) to devote the latter part of the night, and particularly the time shortly before dawn, to intensive prayer. But while the word sahar (also spelled sahr and suhr), of which ashar is the plural, undoubtedly denotes "the time before daybreak", it also signifies - in the spellings sahar and suhr - "the core of the heart", "the inner part of the heart", or simply "heart" (cf. Lisan al-'Arab; also Lane IV, 1316). It seems to me that in the context of the above Qur'an-verse - as well as of 51:18 - this latter rendering is preferable to the conventional one: for, although the value of praying before daybreak has undoubtedly been stressed by the Prophet, it is not very plausible that the Qur'an should have tied the prayer for forgiveness to a particular time of day.