In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the righteous between speech and action.
The virtue of the night prayer and the stories of those who kept vigil.
Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) would pray at night as much as Allah willed for him to pray.
Then, when the last part of the night arrived,
He would wake his family.
He would say to them,
"Prayer, prayer!"
And he would recite this verse:
"And enjoin prayer upon your family
and be steadfast therein.
We ask you not for provision;
We provide for you,
and the [best] outcome is for righteousness."
He (may Allah be pleased with him) also said,
"Winter is the spoils of the worshipper."
And regarding Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him),
It is narrated that when winter arrived,
He would say,
"O people of the Qur'an,
The night has grown long for your prayer,
And the day has grown short for your fasting,
So seize the opportunity."
He (may Allah be pleased with him) also said,
"A man during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
would see a dream and relate it to the Prophet (peace be upon him)."
He said,
"I was a young, unmarried man,
and I used to sleep in the mosque during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
I saw in a dream as if two angels took me
and brought me to the Fire.
It was built like a well,
and it had two horns.
I saw in it people I recognized.
I began to say,
'I seek refuge in Allah from the Fire,
I seek refuge in Allah from the Fire.'
Then another angel met them,
and he said to me,
'Do not be afraid.'
I related this to Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her),
and Hafsah related it to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
He said,
'Abdullah is an excellent man,
if only he would pray at night.'"
Salim said,
"After that, Abdullah
would not sleep at night except for a little."
He (may Allah be pleased with him) would spend the night in prayer,
then he would say,
"O Nafi',
has the time of suhur arrived?"
I would say, "No."
So he would return to prayer.
Then he would say,
"O Nafi',
has the time of suhur arrived?"
I would say, "Yes."
So he would sit, seek forgiveness, and supplicate until morning.
And regarding Usayd ibn Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him),
It is narrated that while he was reciting one night,
his horse suddenly shied.
He stopped reciting,
then it shied again.
He stopped,
then it shied again.
Usayd said,
"I feared it would trample Yahya,
so I stood up toward it,
and there was something like a canopy above my head
containing things like lamps.
It ascended into the air
until I could no longer see it."
I went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the morning
and said, "O Messenger of Allah,
while I was reciting in my enclosure in the middle of the night,
my horse shied."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"Recite, O Ibn Hudayr,
recite, O Ibn Hudayr."
"Do you know what that was?"
I said, "No."
He said,
"Those were the angels listening to you.
Had you continued to recite,
the people would have seen them in the morning;
they would not have been hidden from them."
And regarding Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he said,
"The virtue of the night prayer over the prayer
of the day
is like the virtue of secret charity over public charity."
And regarding Abu Uthman al-Nahdi, he said,
"I was a guest of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) for seven days.
He, his wife, and his servant would divide the night into thirds:
one would pray,
then wake the next,
who would pray,
then wake the next."
And regarding Abdullah ibn Abi Mulaykah, he said,
"I traveled with Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) from Medina to Mecca,
and from Mecca to Medina.
He would stand in prayer for half the night."
And regarding 'Ata' al-Khurasani (may Allah have mercy on him), he said,
"It used to be said:
'The night prayer is a life-giver for the body,
a light in the heart,
a radiance for the eyes,
and strength for the limbs.'
When a man stands at night in vigil,
he wakes up joyful,
finding joy in his heart.
But if his eyes overcome him and he sleeps through his portion,
he wakes up sad and broken-hearted,
as if he has lost something,
and indeed, he has lost the most beneficial of things for him."
And regarding Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him), he said,
"It used to be said:
'Few who stay awake at night are hypocrites.'"
And regarding Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him), he said,
"I caught up with the early generations, and they were those who stood in prayer at night."
'Ata' (may Allah have mercy on him), after he grew old and weak,
would stand for prayer
and recite two hundred verses of Surah al-Baqarah while standing,
not swaying or moving at all.
And al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym (may Allah have mercy on him),
after his side became paralyzed,
would be supported by two men to the mosque of his people.
The companions of Abdullah would say to him,
"O Abu Yazid,
Allah has granted you a concession;
if only you would pray in your house."
He would say, "It is as you say,
but I heard the caller saying,
'Come to success.'
So whoever among you hears it,
let him answer it, even if by crawling,
even if by creeping."
Thabit al-Bunani (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"I struggled with prayer for twenty years,
then I enjoyed it for twenty years."
Al-Awza'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"Whoever lengthens his night prayer,
Allah will make the standing on the Day of Resurrection easy for him."
Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him)
would divide the night:
the first third he would write,
the second he would pray,
and the third he would sleep.
Al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"All three of his actions were worship through intention."
And regarding Ibrahim ibn Shammas,
he said,
"I knew Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) when he was a boy,
and he would spend the night in worship."
Abu Sulayman al-Darani (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"The people of obedience in their night
find more pleasure than the people of amusement in their amusement.
Were it not for the night,
I would not have loved to remain in this world."
Muhammad ibn Abi Hatim said,
Muhammad ibn Isma'il (al-Bukhari) (may Allah have mercy on him) was invited
to the orchard of one of his companions.
When he led the people in the Dhuhr prayer,
he stood to perform voluntary prayers.
When he finished his prayer,
he lifted the hem of his garment,
and said to some of those with him,
"Look,
do you see anything under my garment?"
There was a wasp that had stung him in sixteen or seventeen places,
and his body had swollen from it.
Some of the people said to him,
"Why did you not stop the prayer the first time it stung you?"
He said,
"I was in the middle of a surah and I wanted to complete it."
The virtue of the Duha prayer.
Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"Whoever misses his portion of the night prayer,
let him pray it during the prayer before Dhuhr,
for it is equivalent to the night prayer."
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with him)
would pray a long prayer before Dhuhr,
and when he heard the adhan,
he would tighten his clothes and leave.
The month of Ramadan and fasting.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)
and his companions, when they fasted,
would sit in the mosque.
They would say, "We are purifying our fast."
And Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him)
would not fast during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
because of military expeditions.
But when the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away,
I never saw him break his fast
except on the days of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha.
Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays (may Allah have mercy on him) wanted to fast,
and he was asked about that.
He said,
"I am preparing it for a day whose evil is long-lasting."
Then he recited,
“Therefor Allah hath warded off from them the evil of that day, and hath made them find brightness and joy;” (76:11)
Some of the salaf, may Allah have mercy on them,
would complete the entire Qur'an every night during Ramadan,
sleeping only between the Maghrib and Isha prayers.
Others would complete it every two nights during Ramadan,
also sleeping between the Maghrib and Isha prayers.
Abu al-'Aliyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The fasting person is in a state of worship as long as he does not backbite,"
"even if he is asleep in his bed."
Musabbih ibn Sa'id said:
"Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him,"
"would complete a full reading of the Qur'an every day during the daylight hours of Ramadan,"
"and he would complete another reading every three nights during the night prayers after Tarawih."
Preparing for worship and getting ready for it:
Tamim al-Dari, may Allah be pleased with him, bought a cloak for a thousand dirhams,
and he would pray in it.
Whenever he, may Allah be pleased with him, would rise at night,
he would call for his siwak,
and then he would call for his finest garment,
which he would only wear when he rose at night to perform the tahajjud prayer.
Waki' ibn al-Jarrah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Whoever does not prepare for the prayer before its time arrives,"
"has not truly honored it."
Al-Mughirah ibn Hakim, may Allah have mercy on him, whenever he intended to rise for tahajjud,
would put on his finest clothes,
and apply the perfume of his family.
He was among those who performed the night vigil.
Other benefits:
'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"Be more concerned with the acceptance of your deeds,"
"than you are with the performance of the deeds themselves."
Have you not heard Allah say:
“But recite unto them with truth the tale of the two sons of Adam, how they offered each a sacrifice, and it was accepted from the one of them and it was not accepted from the other. (The one) said: I will surely kill thee. (The other) answered: Allah accepteth only from those who ward off (evil).” (5:27)
'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi said:
"If it were said to Hammad ibn Salamah, may Allah have mercy on him,"
"'You will die tomorrow,'"
"'he would not be able to add anything more to his deeds.'"
Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about a man praying:
"What should he intend with his prayer?"
He replied, "He should intend to commune with his Lord."
The life of harmony between speech and action.