Everything has a point of moderation and reasonableness, and both the prayer and Khutbah of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) were moderate, i.e., they were neither prolonged in a boring manner nor shortened in a manner involving deficiency, and this was the course adopted by the Prophet's Companions. In this Hadīth, the Tābi‘i Abu Wā’il, the brother of Ibn Salamah al-Asdi, narrates that ‘Ammār ibn Yāsir (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) delivered a sermon among people, and he spoke briefly and eloquently and conveyed what he wanted in a few words. On descending the pulpit, people said to him: "O Abu al-Yaqzhān," which is 'Ammār's nickname, and they praised his eloquence and brevity and said to him: "Would that you spoke longer," i.e., made it a little longer. He informed them that he heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A man's lengthy prayer," referring to the Friday prayer, i.e., making the prayer longer than the Khutbah in a way that does not make it arduous for those praying behind him; to be moderate between prolonging and shortening, "and short Khutbah," i.e., shortening it "is a sign of his understanding," i.e., a sign indicating the preacher's understanding when his speech is eloquent, brief, and clear. The command of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) contains: "So, lengthen the prayer and shorten the Khutbah", denotes ultimate moderation by prolonging the prayer moderately so that those who are not present and those who are far away from the mosque can catch up with it without harming those behind him with such a prolongation, and by shortening the Khutbah without failing to meet its proper standards and in a way that would make it easier to memorize what is mentioned therein as the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to do this in both. His statement: "For there is a charm in the eloquent speech," "Eloquent speech" here means expressing the intended meaning using the most articulate wording, which indicates understanding and the heart's intelligence. "Charm" means changing the way one regards something and not changing the truth of something. This statement was said as a form of praise by the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) with which he ended his speech to guide the preacher to be eloquent and clear in his speech, as Allah Almighty has bestowed upon His slaves the blessing of teaching them eloquence and clarity. Then, he compared it to magic because the hearts feel a tendency towards it as the eloquent speech attracts hearts and causes them to incline to what the speaker is saying. The Hadīth points out that it is Sunnah for the preacher not to lengthen the Khutbah..