It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man said: O Messenger of Allah! How do you command us to pray at night? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: A person should keep praying two rak‘ahs at a time; when he fears that dawn is about to break, he should pray one rak‘ah. This one rak‘ah will make the number of rak‘ahs he has prayed during the night odd.

(Second chain of narration) In this, the detail is: The prayer of the night and day is in sets of two rak‘ahs, so after every two rak‘ahs, keep saying salam. But when you fear the approach of dawn, then pray one rak‘ah; it will make all your previous prayers odd (witr) for you.

Abu Majliz says: I asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) about Witr, so he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: There is one rak'ah in the last part of the night. Then I asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), so he said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is one rak'ah in the last part of the night.

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then offer five rak‘ahs of Witr, if you do not have the strength for that, then offer three, if you are not able to do even that, then offer one, and if you do not have the ability for even that, then perform it by making gestures.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: Tonight I will definitely watch the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. So I made his doorstep or the tent my pillow and began to watch. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed two light rak‘ahs, then performed two long rak‘ahs, then performed two rak‘ahs, but they were less than the previous ones, then performed two rak‘ahs, but they were less than the previous two, then performed two rak‘ahs, these were also less than the two before them, then performed witr. In this way, these became a total of thirteen rak‘ahs.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer eight units of prayer at night and three witr, after which he would offer the two sunnah of Fajr. Then, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) became advanced in age, his night prayer became nine units, that is, six units and three witr.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform three rak'ahs of Witr.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed three Witr and recited Surah Al-A'la, Surah Al-Kafiroon, and Surah Al-Ikhlas in them.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray thirteen units of prayer at night, among which were five units of Witr prayer. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform these five units together, and after the fifth unit, he would sit for Tashahhud and then conclude with Salam.

(Second chain) She says: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to pray thirteen rak‘ahs at night, which included the two sunnah rak‘ahs that he, peace and blessings be upon him, would pray after the rising of dawn and before the Fajr prayer. Thus, the total number of night rak‘ahs would be eleven. Out of these, he, peace and blessings be upon him, would perform six rak‘ahs in sets of two, and the five witr rak‘ahs he would perform in such a way that he would not sit (for the middle tashahhud).