Narrated Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would get up at night to offer Tahajjud prayer, he would say: "O Allah! All praise is for You; You are the Disposer of the affairs of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and all praise is for You; You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and all praise is for You; You are the King of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and all praise is for You; You are True, and Your promise is true, and meeting You is true, and Your word is true, and Paradise and Hell are true, and all the Prophets are true, and Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is true, and the Hour is true. O Allah! I am obedient to You, and I have believed in You, and I have put my trust in You, and I turn to You, and with Your help I argue with the opponents, and I appoint You as a judge. So forgive my past and future sins, my hidden and open sins; You are the One Who brings forward and Who delays; there is no deity except You." Or he said: "There is no true deity except You."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), whoever saw a dream would narrate it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). So I also wished that I would see a dream and narrate it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). I was a young man and during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), I used to sleep in the mosque. So (one day) I saw in a dream as if two angels had caught me and were taking me towards Hell. Suddenly (I saw that) it was like a well, winding, and it had two pillars. There were some people in it whom I recognized. So I began to say,“I seek refuge in Allah from Hell.”Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that then we met another angel and he said to me,“Do not be afraid.”I narrated this dream to Umm al-Mu’minin Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) (who was the sister of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both), and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). So he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“Abdullah is a very good man, if only he would pray Tahajjud!”After that, Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to sleep very little at night.

Narrated Sayyiduna Jundub bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) became ill, so for one or two nights he did not get up (for Tahajjud prayer).

Ameer-ul-Mu'mineen Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came one night to him and Sayyidah Fatimah az-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and said: "Why do you both not pray (at night)?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! Our souls are in Allah's control, so when He wishes to wake us up, He will wake us up." When I said this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) turned back and did not reply to me. I heard that as he was leaving, he was striking his thigh with his hand and saying: "And man is more quarrelsome than anything."

Umm al-Mu'mineen Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would abandon a deed, even though he loved it, out of fear that people would act upon it and it might be made obligatory upon them. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never performed the Duha prayer, but I perform it.

Sayyiduna Mughirah bin Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) used to stand (in prayer) so long that both his feet or (he said) both his shins would swell. So it was said to him (that do not exert yourself so much in worship), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would reply:“Should I not be a grateful servant of Allah?”

Narrated Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: "The prayer most beloved to Allah is the prayer of Dawud (David), and the fasting most beloved to Allah is the fasting of Dawud. He would sleep half the night, pray for one third of it, and then sleep for one sixth of it. And he would fast one day and not fast the next day."

Umm al-Mu'minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The deed which could be done consistently was beloved to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The narrator says: I asked, "At what time would the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) get up (at night)?" She said: He would get up when he heard the crowing of the rooster.

In one narration, (Ash'ath says) that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) heard the crowing of a rooster, he would get up to perform the Tahajjud prayer.

Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says in another narration that I found the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sleeping beside me in the last part of the night.