سورة يوسف

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The best time in which you call upon Allah the Mighty and Majestic is the pre-dawn hours," then he recited this verse from the words of Yaqub (peace be upon him): قالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَکُمْ رَبِّی [He said: I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord]. And he said: "Yaqub (peace be upon him) postponed the supplication for them until the pre-dawn hour."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) was asked about the time for performing the night prayer; the Imam said: "It is the same time about which it has come from my grandfather the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) that he said: at that moment a caller from Allah the Mighty and Majestic calls out: Is there any supplicant that I may answer him? Is there any seeker of forgiveness that I may forgive him?" The questioner asked: "When is this call?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is the same time about which Yaqub (peace be upon him) promised his sons, saying: سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَکُمْ رَبِّی [I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord]." [Again] the questioner asked: "That time [when Yaqub (peace be upon him) made his promise], when was it?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is the same time about which Allah says: وَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِینَ بِالْأَسْحارِ [and those who ask forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours]. (Al-Imran/17) The night prayer at the end of its time is better than before that, and it is the time of acceptance."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Abi Umayr narrated from some of our Shia from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that the Imam (peace be upon him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: The time before dawn is the best hour in which you can commune with Allah in whispered prayer, and he recited this verse: سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَکُمْ رَبِّی [I will ask for you forgiveness from my Lord]. Yaqub (peace be upon him) postponed seeking forgiveness for his sons until the time before dawn.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that concerning this statement of Yaqub (peace be upon him) to his sons, سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَکُمْ رَبِّی [I will ask for you forgiveness from my Lord], he said: "Yaqub (peace be upon him) deferred the seeking of forgiveness to the time before dawn [on the night of Friday]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Isma'il ibn al-Fadl al-Hashimi said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Inform me about Yaqub (peace be upon him) — when his sons said to him: 'O our father! Ask forgiveness of our sins for us, indeed we were sinners' (Yusuf/98), why did he say to them: سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَکُمْ رَبِّی [I will ask for you forgiveness from my Lord], and why did he defer seeking forgiveness and not forgive them immediately? And also, when the brothers of Yusuf (peace be upon him) said to him: 'By Allah, indeed Allah has preferred you over us, and we were certainly sinners', [Yusuf] said: 'There is no reproach against you this day! Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful!' (Yusuf/91-92). Why did Yusuf (peace be upon him) say: 'There is no reproach against you this day! Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful!' (Yusuf/92), and thus without delay he pardoned their fault and did not postpone it?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: The reason is that the heart of the young is more tender than the heart of the old; therefore Yusuf (peace be upon him) pardoned his brothers' fault without delay, but Yaqub (peace be upon him) deferred the pardon. And also the brothers of Yusuf (peace be upon him) committed the offence directly against Yusuf (peace be upon him), whereas their offence against Yaqub (peace be upon him) was on account of their offence against Yusuf (peace be upon him); consequently Yusuf (peace be upon him) hastened to pardon in respect of his own right, but since Yaqub's (peace be upon him) pardon was in reality a pardon of another's right and not his own, he had no choice but to defer it until the time before dawn on the night of Friday.