• I said to Ahmad: What if one recites Maryam, Ta-Ha, or the likes of those in the Fajr (dawn) prayer? He said: "There is no harm; Abu Bakr once recited [Surat] al-Baqarah," and it was as if Abu 'Abd Allah (Ahmad) considered it recommended to consider the condition of those behind him.

811 - Abu Bakr al-Humaydi narrated to us, saying: Sufyan narrated to us, saying: Al-Zuhri narrated to us, that he heard Anas ibn Malik say: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq recited Surat al-Baqarah in the morning prayer, so 'Umar said to him: "The sun almost—or: was about to—rise." Abu Bakr replied: "If it had risen, it would not have found us negligent."

812 - 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Jabalah narrated to us, saying: Al-Mu'tamir narrated to us, from al-Zubayr ibn Khirrit, from 'Abd Allah ibn Shaqiq, who said: "I prayed the dawn prayer with 'Umar, and he recited [Surat] Yunus and Hud, and their likes."

• I heard Ishaq say: "They used to consider it recommended to recite the long Mufassal surahs in the Fajr prayer, though if you recited shorter than that, it would suffice you. For Isha', they used to recite the medium Mufassal, and for Maghrib, the short Mufassal. It has reached me that they estimated the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the Dhuhr prayer to be equal to the length of {Alif-Lam-Mim Tanzil} (Surat al-Sajdah). Dhuhr is considered equivalent to Isha' in the length of recitation, and 'Asr is considered equivalent to Maghrib."