five is the middle one. It is also the middle one in terms of the number of rakʿahs and the middle one in terms of time, for the number of its rakʿahs is three, so it is intermediate between four and two. Its time is at the end of the day and the beginning of the night. It is distinguished from other prayers by being odd (witr), and God is odd and loves the odd, and by the fact that it is performed at the beginning of its time in all lands and eras, and delaying it beyond that is disliked. Likewise, Gabriel performed it with the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, on both days at the same time, which is why some of the Imams held that it has only one time for that reason. The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "My community will remain," or he said, "this community, in goodness," or he said, "upon the natural disposition (fiṭra), as long as they do not delay the Maghrib prayer until the stars become intertwined." Narrated by Abū Dāwūd. It is also said that it is the ʿIshāʾ prayer, based on what Ibn ʿUmar narrated, who said: We waited one night for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, for the final ʿIshāʾ prayer. He came out to us when a third of the night had passed, or after that, and said: "You are waiting for a prayer that the followers of no other religion wait for, and were it not that it would be difficult for my community, I would have prayed with them at this hour." He also said: "The most burdensome prayers for the hypocrites are the morning prayer and the final ʿIshāʾ prayer, and if they knew what was in them, they would have come to them even if by crawling." Both are agreed upon.