( Do not near prayers )...

( Do not near prayers ): Do not near the station of presence and secret conversation with Allah when you are (intoxicated) by the sleep of negligence or the intoxicants of mundane desire and love of the world, ( until you know what you are saying ) in your whisperings and do not occupy your hearts with the occupations of the world and its insinuations ....

[^8] Having known the roots of سكر ( sukr ) we come to realize that the commonly understood intoxication is just one of its examples which the masses seem to be most familiar with. Other extensions ( masadiq ) can also be comprehended. Commentators of the Holy Qur'an mention a tradition of Imam al-Sadiq (`a) that implicitly endorses this contention. He (a) says about verse (4:43) that, of the examples of sukr is the سكر النوم 'sukr of sleep'.

"This statement," says the Mawla Kashani in his ' al-Safi ', "manifests universality." [^9] He means that 'sukr' (that interruption that comes about in the natural process of thinking and intellection) has various extensions.

In a tradition from Al-Kafi , Imam al-Baqir (`a) is reported to have said: لا تقم الئ الصلاة متكاسلا ولا متناعسا ولا متثاقلا فانها من خلال النفاق وقد نهي الله عزوجل ان تقوموا الي الصلاة وانتم سكارئ, قال سكر النوم Neither stand for prayer in the state of restlessness, or slumber; nor while you are over satiated;…