Zayd ibn Arqam reported: He saw some people performing the forenoon prayer. Zayd said, “Do they not know that the prayer is better at another time? The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The prayer of the penitent is when the young camels feel the heat of the sun.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 748
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim
Al-Nawawi said, “Our scholars said it is a better time for the forenoon prayer, even though it is permissible to pray from the rising of the sun until it begins to decline.”
Source: Sharḥ al-Nawawī ‘alá Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 6/30
عَنْ زَيْد بْن أَرْقَمَ رَأَى قَوْمًا يُصَلُّونَ مِنَ الضُّحَى فَقَالَ أَمَا لَقَدْ عَلِمُوا أَنَّ الصَّلَاةَ فِي غَيْرِ هَذِهِ السَّاعَةِ أَفْضَلُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ صَلَاةُ الْأَوَّابِينَ حِينَ تَرْمَضُ الْفِصَالُ
748 صحيح مسلم كتاب صلاة المسافرين وقصرها باب صلاة الأوابين حين ترمض الفصال
قال النووي قَالَ أَصْحَابُنَا هُوَ أَفْضَلُ وَقْتِ صَلَاةِ الضُّحَى وَإِنْ كَانَتْ تَجُوزُ مِنْ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى الزَّوَالِ
6/30 شرح النووي على مسلم