It was narrated that Abu Ishaq said:
I heard `Asim bin Damrah say: We asked ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) during the day and he said: You cannot do that. We said: Whoever among us is able to do it [will do it]. He said: When the sun was as high there as it is there the time of ‘Asr, he prayed two rak`ahs, When the sun was as high there as it is there at the time of Zuhr, he prayed four rak’ahs. He prayed four rak`ahs before Zuhr and two afterwards, and [he prayed] four rakʻahs before ‘Asr, separating each two rak`ahs with the greeting (tasleem) upon the angels who are close to Allah, the Prophets, and those who follow them of the believers and the Muslims.