shape of the Earth. Among these is the following statement reported from the Imam
Jafar aHiadiq (peace be upon him):

A man accompanied me who used to perform the evening prayer after dark and the dawn prayer before dawn, whereas I used to perform the evening prayer when the Sun had set and the dawn prayer when the dawn became evident to me. The man asked me: "What prevents you from doing what I do? The Sun rises over some people before it does over us, and sets for us as it rises over other people." I replied: "Because it is our duty to pray when the Sun sets for us and when the dawn breaks for us, and it is their obligation to pray when the Sun sets for them."٢٨

The man based his view on his knowledge of the various risings and settings of the Sun, which result from the spherical shape of the Earth. The Imam, for his part, confirms him in that, but also reminds him of his religious obligation.
Similarly, in another tradition, the Imam al-Sadiq says, "However, it is your duty
[to determine] your east and your west."
In his morning and evening supplications, the Imam Zayn a!-Abdin (peace be upon him) has said:
And for each one of them [night and day], He has fixed a definite extent and span of time, and has caused each of them to pass into its companion, and has caused its com‌ panion to pass into it,٢٩ to a certain measure for the sake of the worshipers. ٣٠

The Imam (Gods blessings be upon him) intends, with this elucidation, to define something not yet discerned by the minds of that age, namely, the roundness of the Earth (since this notion was beyond human comprehension, because it was not yet discovered by the intellect). He, who was an Imam, knowledgeable with the methods of elucidation, used this subtle m(;!thod of referring to this matter. Had he, in con‌ trast, been bent on describing what ordinary people could see-namely, the length‌ ening and shortening of day and night, with each of them alternately taking hours from the other-he would have limited himself to the first phrase, "and has caused each of them to pass into its companion." He would have had no need for the second phrase, "and has caused its companion to pass into it." Therefore, the second phrase must have been added to indicate that the passing of the one into the other is condi‌ tioned on the opposite taking place concurrently. This is how the sentence should be understood, for the second phrase, as can be seen from the phrasing of the sentence, is grammatically in the circumstantial form (f:zal). It is this which indicates that the sentence points to the spherical shape of the earth as well as to the fact that the pass‌ ing of the night into the day, as observed by us, for instance, necessitates the passing of the day into the night for other people [in another region of the Earth]. Had it not been the Imams mission to allude to this significant point, there would have been no need for the second phrase; it would have merely been a repetition of the first.
In discussing the inimitability of the Quran, we have confined ourselves to these few aspec,ts. They are sufficient evidence that the Quran is a divine revelation, be‌ yond human accomplishment.
Further proof that the Quran is a divine revelation is given by the fact that it was the only schooling for the Commander of the Faithful, Ali b, Abi Talib (peace be upon him), whose eloquence is such that skilled scholars boast of being able to under‌ stand his discourses, and profound researchers imbibe from the ocean of his knowl-