Shuraih bin Hani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I asked Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). She replied: Of all the prayers, there was none more deserving to be delayed than the 'Isha prayer, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was engaged in conversation. Whenever he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed this ('Isha) prayer and then came to me, he would certainly pray four or six rak'ahs. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never protected himself from the ground with anything, except that I certainly remember a rainy day, when we spread a mat or something else under him, as the narrator mentioned, i.e., a leather mat, as if I am seeing the hole in it from which water was coming out.