Sayyiduna Mughira bin Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform (such lengthy) prayers at night that his feet would swell. Someone said to him: Has Allah not forgiven all your past and future sins? (Then why do you stand for such a long time?) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: Should I not be a most grateful servant of Allah?

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "So-and-so slept through the night and did not pray until morning." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Satan urinated in his ear." Hasan said: "By Allah! His urine must be very heavy."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me and Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) at the time of suhoor during the night, woke us up for prayer, and then returned to his house and prayed for a while. But when he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not sense any sound from us, he came to us again and, waking us up, said: Get up and pray. I got up, sat down, and while rubbing my eyes, said: By Allah! We will only pray as much as has been written in our destiny; our souls are only in the hand of Allah Almighty, when He wills, He will raise us. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went back, striking his thigh with his hand and saying as he went: We will only pray as much as has been written in our destiny, we will only pray as much as has been written in our destiny. The real matter is that man is the most argumentative of all things.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Abdullah! Do not be like so-and-so; he used to stand (in prayer) at night, then he abandoned standing (in prayer) at night.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When any one of you sleeps, three knots are tied at the back of his head with a leather cord. If he wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is untied. If he goes further and performs ablution, the second knot is untied. And if he also performs prayer, the third knot is untied. But if he wakes up in the morning without having gotten up at night, without remembering Allah, without performing ablution, and without praying, then he wakes up in such a state that those knots remain upon him.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When every man and woman sleeps, a leather rope is tied on their head and three knots are made on their head. When he wakes up and remembers Allah Almighty, one knot is untied; when he gets up and performs ablution, the second knot is untied; and when he offers prayer, all the knots are untied.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I performed the night prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When he entered the prayer, he recited this supplication: "Allah is the Greatest, Owner of the Dominion, Power, Majesty, and Greatness." Then he recited Surah Al-Baqarah, after which he bowed (ruku‘), and his bowing was as long as his standing. In ruku‘, he kept saying: "Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent." Then he raised his head, and his standing after ruku‘ was equal to his bowing. In this standing, he kept saying: "For my Lord is all praise, for my Lord is all praise." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prostrated, and his prostration was as long as his standing. In prostration, he kept saying: "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High, Glory be to my Lord, the Most High." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head and sat in the sitting position, and this sitting was equal to his prostration. In this sitting, he kept saying: "My Lord, forgive me, my Lord, forgive me." In this prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited Surah Al-Baqarah, Surah Aal-e-Imran, Surah An-Nisa, and Surah Al-Ma'idah or Surah Al-An'am. Regarding the last two surahs, the narrator of the hadith, Imam Shu'bah, was in doubt.

(Second chain) Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: One night I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that I could pray with him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began the recitation; his recitation was neither too slow nor too loud. He (peace and blessings be upon him) was reciting with pauses and making us listen. Then when he (peace and blessings be upon him) bowed (for ruku‘), his ruku‘ was equal in length to his standing (qiyam), ... , after this, a hadith similar to the first hadith was narrated. ‘Abd al-Malik bin ‘Umayr said: This was the night voluntary prayer (tahajjud).

(Third chain) I spent a night in prayer with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He recited seven long surahs in seven rak‘ahs. When he would raise his head from bowing (ruku‘), he would say:“Sami‘a Allahu liman hamidah,”and then recite:“Alhamdu lillahi dhi’l-malakuti wa’l-jabaruti wa’l-kibriya’i wa’l-‘azamah.”His bowing was equal in length to his standing, and his prostration was equal in length to his bowing. When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, finished, it felt as if my legs were broken.

Rabi’ah Jurashi says: I asked Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say when he stood for prayer at night and with what he used to begin the prayer. She said: He would say ten times: ALLAHU AKBAR, ten times: SUBHANALLAH, ten times: LA ILAHA ILLALLAH, and ten times: ASTAGHFIRULLAH, ten times: ALLAHUMMAGHFIR LI WAHDINI WARZUQNI, and ten times: ALLAHUMMA INNI A’UDHU BIKA MINAD-DAYYIQI YAWMAL-HISAB.