And then do not forget to set apart the best of your time for communion with God, although every moment of yours is for Him only, provided it is spent sincerely in the service of your people. The special time that you give to prayer in the strict religions sense is to be devoted to the performance of the prescribed daily prayers. Keep yourself engaged in these prayers both in the day and in the might, and to gain perfect communion, do not, as far as possible, make your prayers grow tiresome.
And when you lead in congregational prayer, do not let your prayer be so lengthy as to cause discomfort to the congregation or raise in them the feeling of dislike for it or liquidate its effect: for in the congregation there may be invalids and also those who have to attend to pressing affairs of their own.
When I had asked of the Prophet of God on receiving an order to proceed to Yemen, how I should lead the people over there in prayer, he said:
“perform your prayers even as the weakest among you would do; and act an example of considerateness to the faithful.” 1
- The Epistle Imam Ali’s Famous Epistle To Malik Ashtar, Mairaj Khalid[↩]