Hazrat Inayat Khan took these questions during a class for mureeds. The ‘wishes’ he mentions in the concluding paragraph may seem difficult to memorise, but they could be written out and read aloud, until their meaning is internalised.

Q.: What is the best time for prayer? In the early morning?

A.: The sunrise and the sunset are the best times for prayer.

Q.: Is there a difference?

A.: For worldly inspirations the morning is better, and for the spiritual the evening is better.

Q.: As it is better to have a dim light when meditating, how is it when meditating at sunrise?

A.: At that time you need not close your eyes, the sun helps a great deal. If one would ask me, “What wish must we make with the rising of the sun, and what wish must we make with the setting of the sun?” I would say that one must make with the rising of the sun a wish that, “All the struggles in life I may meet with power, wisdom and strength; and that I may be able to better the condition of my own life and of others’ lives every day more and more.” And if you asked me, “What must one ask at the setting sun?” I would say, “Let me draw nearer to You every day more and more”, “Let this progress in my life not diminish, but grow to its fullness” and, “Make my end in this world full of satisfaction, full of honour and glory, that the beauty may follow me to the end and that it may not leave me on the way.”