Guard your prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand before God in devotion.
What is the 'middle prayer' the Qur'an tells us to guard?
Key findingsEditorial
One finding for each passage this study carries, in the order the study reads them. Each is the reason that passage was signed into the study, in full and unedited - including, where the renderings disagree, the disagreement.
- 01 2:238 Be guardians of your prayers, AND OF THE MIDMOST PRAYER, and stand up with devotion to Allah. Carried whole and alone because the study is this one sentence: it singles out one prayer from among the others, calls it the middle, tells you to guard it especially - and does not say which it is. All four renderings agree on the singling-out and none of them supplies the identification. ALSO CARRIED by Are the five daily prayers named in the Qur'an? and by What does the Qur'an say about how to pray - and what does it not give?
In plain wordsEditorial written by the editors, not a translation
One verse, one sentence, and the honest answer is that the text does not say.
2:238: guard your prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand before God devoutly. All four renderings give it - the midmost prayer, the middle prayer. The verse takes one prayer out of the set and asks for particular care over it.
And then it stops. It does not name it. There is no other verse that names it. There is nothing elsewhere in the book that identifies which prayer is meant.
That silence is not a small thing, because the verse plainly expects its first hearers to know. It says THE middle prayer, definite, as though pointing at something already familiar. What it points at is not preserved in the text.
Which prayer is meant has been argued over, and that argument lives in the commentary literature. This platform cannot show it to you - no and no collection has cleared the rights audit - and this study will not pick a side on their behalf, because picking one would mean asserting as settled the very thing the argument is about.
So what a reader can take from this page: the Qur'an singles out one prayer among the prayers and asks you to guard it. Which one it means is not in the Qur'an. Anyone who tells you the text names it can be asked where, and there is nowhere.
Scope of this study
This platform shows the verse, its easy-read line, its translations, a plain-words reading, and each verse among its neighbours. It does not supply occasion of revelation, interpretation (tafsir) or history, and it never invents them.
What this study does not answer, and which source would be needed. It does not say on what occasion any of these verses was given: this study holds no source whose usage rights can be verified. It does not report how any commentator has read them: this study holds no either - the Arabic of , and is public domain by age, but no English edition with verifiable usage rights exists. And it offers no academic-historical reading: this study holds no such scholarship. Each of those is an absence with a named cause, not an omission.
What this rests on
Opens with 2:238.
Easy-read
Easy-read is a simplified pronunciation, not authoritative — a rule-by-rule romanisation, not a reading. Each verse ends in its pause form, as it is said when you stop there. Pauses inside a verse and other tajwid rules are not shown. It is derived from the Tanzil Simple edition, while the Arabic above is the Uthmani edition; both are cleared, but they are not the same edition and their orthography differs.
The versesSource fact 1 passages, each with every cleared translation
1 passages, chosen for this question and signed as part of it. Each carries the reason it is here, and each renders in full: the Arabic, then every cleared translation of that verse under its translator's name.
Each verse opens on the translation that comes first in the site's fixed order, which runs from the newest translation to the oldest. The order is not a preference. Open Compare translations on any verse to read the others.
2:238
Why this passage is in the study finding 01
حَٰفِظُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلصَّلَوَٰتِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ٱلْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا۟ لِلَّهِ قَٰنِتِينَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)haafizoo 'alaa s-salawaati was-salaati l-wustaa waqoomoo lillaahi qaaniteen
DIN 31635ḥāfiẓū ʿalā ṣ-ṣalawāti waṣ-ṣalāti l-wusṭā waqūmū lillāhi qānitīna
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Compare translations (4)
Be guardians of your prayers, and of the midmost prayer, and stand up with devotion to Allah
Observe the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand ye attent before God
Observe strictly the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand up full of devotion towards God
Carefully observe the appointed prayers, and the middle prayer, and be assiduous therein, with devotion towards God
Sources
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) ·Uthmani, Version 1.1·Tanzil Project ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Receipts Tanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) · Uthmani, Version 1.1
- Edition
- Uthmani, Version 1.1
- Custodian
- Tanzil Project
- Layer
- canonical text
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
- Licence URL
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
- Commercial use
- yes
- Modification
- contradictory
- Licence text
- read verbatim
- Review state
- cleared
- Retrieved
- 24 August 2026
- Digest
- 203f0f1bf3158b1e5be4ab9f8f6870e5…
- Located at
- https://tanzil.net/pub/download/index.php?quranType=uthmani&outType=xml
- Convention
- Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 ayahs. The bismillah is delivered as a separate `bismillah` attribute on ayah 1 and is NOT fused into the ayah text. 112 surahs carry one: every surah except al-Fatiha, where the bismillah is ayah 1:1 itself, and at-Tawba, which has none. Sourced from the XML output; the plain-text output of the same release DOES fuse it, which is defect D1.
CLEARED. Licence read verbatim from the block embedded in this very file. Ingested exactly as shipped: no normalisation, no stripping of marks, no Unicode recomposition.
Other languages (18)
Kushtojuni kujdes namazeve, veçanërisht namazit të mesëm dhe faluni duke qenë të përulur ndaj Allahut.
Čuvajte namaze, naročito srednji namaz, i pred Allahom ponizno stojte!
Čuvajte molitve, naročito molitvu u sredini dana, i pred Allahom ponizno stojte!
Reenee juulɗe ɗen, e juulde hakkundeere nden. Daranoɗon Alla ko o toƴƴiniiɓe
ო, მორწმუნენო! დაიცავით (სავალდებულო) ლოცვები და (განსაკუთრებით) შუა ლოცვა (‘ასრი). და დადექით ალლაჰის წინაშე (მორჩილებით).
Haltet die Gebete ein, und (insbesondere) das mittlere Gebet, und steht demütig ergeben vor Allah.
Τηρείτε αυστηρά τις (πέντε υποχρεωτικές καθημερινές) προσευχές, και (ειδικά) τη μεσαία προσευχή (Αλ-‘Ασρ). Και σταθείτε (στις προσευχές σας) ενώπιον του Αλλάχ υπάκουοι και ταπεινοί.
सब नमाज़ों का और (विशेषकर) बीच की नमाज़ (अस्र) का ध्यान रखो[158] तथा अल्लाह के लिए आज्ञाकारी होकर (विनयपूर्वक) खड़े रहो।
Compiete assiduamente le preghiere, e particolarmente la mediana, e tendete umilmente ad Allāh.
238. Griežtai saugokite (penkias privalomas) As-Salavat (maldas), ypatingai viduriniąją Salat (geriausią maldą - ‘Asr) [34].
Salaatowwan irratti tikfadhaa keessattuu salaatattii giddu galeessaa irratti. Haala Rabbiif ajajamoo taataniin dhaabbadhaa.[97]
Оберегайте молитвы и [особенно] срединную молитву, и стойте перед Аллахом благоговейно.
Чувајте молитве, нарочито молитву у средини дана, и пред Аллахом понизно стојте!
Zilindeni Swala, na hasa Swala ya katikati. Na simameni kwa ajili ya Mwenyezi Mungu kwa unyenyekevu.
Slå vakt om bönerna, och särskilt den mittersta, och stå inför Gud i ödmjuk lydnad.
Namazlara ve orta namaza (ikindi namazına) devam edin. Gönülden bağlılık ve saygı ile Allah’ın huzuruna durun.
نمازوں کی حفاﻇت کرو، بالخصوص درمیان والی نماز کی[1] اور اللہ تعالیٰ کے لئے باادب کھڑے رہا کرو۔
Show context
The verses around this oneSource fact
shown so it's never read alone
لَّا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِن طَلَّقْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا۟ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى ٱلْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُۥ وَعَلَى ٱلْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُۥ مَتَٰعًۢا بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)laa junaaha 'alaykum in tallaqtumu n-nisaa'a maa lam tamassoohunna aw tafridoo lahunna fareedatan wamatti'oohunna 'alaa l-moosi'i qadaruhu wa'alaa l-muqtiri qadaruhu mataa'an bil-ma'roofi haqqan 'alaa l-muhsineen
DIN 31635lā ǧunāḥa ʿalaykum ʾin ṭallaqtumu n-nisāʾa mā lam tamassūhunna ʾaw tafriḍū lahunna farīḍatan wamattiʿūhunna ʿalā l-mūsiʿi qadaruhu waʿalā l-muqtiri qadaruhu matāʿan bil-maʿrūfi ḥaqqan ʿalā l-muḥsinīna
You commit no error by divorcing women before having touched them, or before having set the dowry for them. And compensate them-the wealthy according to his means, and the poor according to his means-with a fair compensation, a duty upon the doers of good.
It is no sin for you if ye divorce women while yet ye have not touched them, nor appointed unto them a portion. Provide for them, the rich according to his means, and the straitened according to his means, a fair provision. (This is) a bounden duty for those who do good
It is no crime in you if ye divorce your women ere you have yet touched them, or settled for them a settlement. But provide maintenance for them; the wealthy according to his power, and the straitened in circumstances according to his power, must provide, in reason;- a duty this upon the kind
It shall be no crime in you if ye divorce your wives so long as ye have not consummated the marriage, nor settled any dowry on them. And provide what is needful for them he who is in ample circumstances according to his means, and he who is straitened, according to his means - with fairness: This is binding on those who do what is right
It shall be no crime in you, if ye divorce your wives, so long as ye have not touched them, nor settled any dowry on them. And provide for them -- he who is at his ease must provide according to his circumstances, and he who is straitened according to his circumstances -- necessaries, according to what shall be reasonable. This is a duty incumbent on the righteous
وَإِن طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلَّآ أَن يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَا۟ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِۦ عُقْدَةُ ٱلنِّكَاحِ وَأَن تَعْفُوٓا۟ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ وَلَا تَنسَوُا۟ ٱلْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)wa'in tallaqtumoohunna min qabli an tamassoohunna waqad faradtum lahunna fareedatan fanisfu maa faradtum illaa an ya'foona aw ya'fuwa lladhee biyadihi 'uqdatu n-nikaahi wa'an ta'foo aqrabu lilttaqwaa walaa tansawu l-fadla baynakum inna llaaha bimaa ta'maloona baseer
DIN 31635waʾin ṭallaqtumūhunna min qabli ʾan tamassūhunna waqad faraḍtum lahunna farīḍatan faniṣfu mā faraḍtum ʾillā ʾan yaʿfūna ʾaw yaʿfuwa llaḏī biyadihi ʿuqdatu n-nikāḥi waʾan taʿfū ʾaqrabu lilttaqwā walā tansawu l-faḍla baynakum ʾinna llāha bimā taʿmalūna baṣīrun
If you divorce them before you have touched them, but after you had set the dowry for them, give them half of what you specified-unless they forego the right, or the one in whose hand is the marriage contract foregoes it. But to forego is nearer to piety. And do not forget generosity between one another. God is seeing of everything you do.
If ye divorce them before ye have touched them and ye have appointed unto them a portion, then (pay the) half of that which ye appointed, unless they (the women) agree to forgo it, or he agreeth to forgo it in whose hand is the marriage tie. To forgo is nearer to piety. And forget not kindness among yourselves. Allah is Seer of what ye do
And if ye divorce them before ye have touched them, but have already settled for them a settlement; the half of what ye have settled, unless they remit it, or he in whose hand is the marriage tie remits it; and that ye should remit is nearer to piety, and forget not liberality between you. Verily, God on what ye do doth look
But if ye divorce them before consummation, and have already settled a dowry on them, ye shall give them half of what ye have settled, unless they make a release, or he make a release in whose hand is the marriage tie. But if ye make a release, it will be nearer to piety. And forget not generosity in your relations one towards another; for God beholdeth your doings
But if ye divorce them before ye have touched them, and have already settled a dowry on them, ye shall give them half of what ye have settled, unless they release any part, or he release part in whose hand the knot of marriage is; and if ye release the whole, it will approach nearer unto piety. And forget not liberality among you, for God seeth that which ye do
2:238 — the verse above
فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالًا أَوْ رُكْبَانًا فَإِذَآ أَمِنتُمْ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ كَمَا عَلَّمَكُم مَّا لَمْ تَكُونُوا۟ تَعْلَمُونَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)fa'in khiftum farijaalan aw rukbaanan fa'idhaa amintum fadhkuroo llaaha kamaa 'allamakum maa lam takoonoo ta'lamoon
DIN 31635faʾin ḫiftum fariǧālan ʾaw rukbānan faʾiḏā ʾamintum faḏkurū llāha kamā ʿallamakum mā lam takūnū taʿlamūna
But if you are in fear, then on foot, or riding. And when you are safe, remember God, as He taught you what you did not know.
And if ye go in fear, then (pray) standing or on horseback. And when ye are again in safety, remember Allah, as He hath taught you that which (heretofore) ye knew not
And if ye fear, then afoot or on horseback; but when ye are in safety remember God, how He taught you while yet ye did not know
And if you have any alarm, then pray on foot or riding: but when you are safe, then remember God, how he hath made you to know what ye knew not
But if ye fear any danger, pray on foot or on horseback; and when ye are safe, remember God, how he hath taught you what as yet ye knew not
وَٱلَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَٰجًا وَصِيَّةً لِّأَزْوَٰجِهِم مَّتَٰعًا إِلَى ٱلْحَوْلِ غَيْرَ إِخْرَاجٍ فَإِنْ خَرَجْنَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى مَا فَعَلْنَ فِىٓ أَنفُسِهِنَّ مِن مَّعْرُوفٍ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)walladheena yutawaffawna minkum wayadharoona azwaajan wasiyyatan li'azwaajihim mataa'an ilaa l-hawli ghayra ikhraajin fa'in kharajna falaa junaaha 'alaykum fee maa fa'alna fee anfusihinna min ma'roofin wallaahu 'azeezun hakeem
DIN 31635wallaḏīna yutawaffawna minkum wayaḏarūna ʾazwāǧan waṣiyyatan liʾazwāǧihim matāʿan ʾilā l-ḥawli ġayra ʾiḫrāǧin faʾin ḫaraǧna falā ǧunāḥa ʿalaykum fī mā faʿalna fī ʾanfusihinna min maʿrūfin wallāhu ʿazīzun ḥakīmun
Those of you who die and leave wives behind-a will shall provide their wives with support for a year, provided they do not leave. If they leave, you are not to blame for what they do with themselves, provided it is reasonable. God is Mighty and Wise.
(In the case of) those of you who are about to die and leave behind them wives, they should bequeath unto their wives a provision for the year without turning them out, but if they go out (of their own accord) there is no sin for you in that which they do of themselves within their rights. Allah is Mighty, Wise
Those of you who die and leave wives, should bequeath to their wives maintenance for a year, without expulsion (from their home); but if they go out, there is no crime in you for what they do of themselves, in reason; but God is mighty and wise
And such of you as shall die and leave wives, shall bequeath their wives a year's maintenance without causing them to quit their homes; but if they quit them of their own accord, then no blame shall attach to you for any disposition they may make of themselves in a fair way. And God is Mighty, Wise
And such of you as shall die and leave wives, ought to bequeath their wives a year's maintenance, without putting them out of their houses: But if they go out voluntarily, it shall be no crime in you, for that which they shall do with themselves, according to what shall be reasonable; God is mighty and wise
What this study rests on, and what it refusessigned with it4 of the 5 paragraphs signed with this study; the paragraph naming what it does not answer is at the top of the page
The selection above and this account of it are part of what was signed. Where the renderings disagree it says so; where the question runs past what has cleared the rights audit it says that too.
Read across the four public-domain translations - Sale 1734, Rodwell 1861, Palmer 1880, Pickthall 1930 - of 2:238, in full, and nothing else. This study consults no , no , no occasion of revelation and no biography, because none is yet available in an edition whose usage rights can be verified. Itani 2012, the fifth translation shown with these verses, was not consulted for this study.
How this set was arrived at. The verse set was chosen by the Editor before the study was written, and is NOT a search result. No word search was run, because on this question a word search would have found the wrong verses or missed the point of the passage. Every verse in that set was read in full before use and checked against the claim made for it; a verse whose text did not carry that claim was left out rather than forced.
Verses carried by more than one study. Some passages here also serve another study. Each carries its own reason in each place, and the reason states where else it appears.
Where the translations part company, named rather than resolved. How differently the translations word each verse is shown on that verse's page, and the study names the differences it turns on rather than choosing between them.
Sources & method
Translations Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an ·1880 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an ·1734 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an ·1861 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran·Public domain — copyright term expired
Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran ·1930 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Talal Itani, ClearQuran ·ClearQuran, "God" edition, EPUB·Talal Itani / ClearQuran.com ·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International·retrieved 7 Sep 2026
Translation by Talal Itani, ClearQuran.com https://clearquran.com
Editorial status
- Editorial status
- Editorially prepared · not independently reviewed — signed by the AALAMIN Editor; no external scholarly review
- Theme
- Review status
- Published
- 6 September 2026
- Updated
- 17 September 2026
A dashed outline marks a tag the editors handle with extra care. It describes how this study is filed and shown, not what the verses say.
AALAMIN Editor
Qur'anic text from the Tanzil Project. Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Tanzil Project License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Source: tanzil.net · Updates: tanzil.net/updates/ https://tanzil.net/updates/