When the Prophet (ﷺ) got up at night to offer the Tahajjud prayer, he used to say: Allahumma lakal-hamd. Anta qaiyyimus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Walakal-hamd, Laka mulkus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Walakal-hamd, anta nurus-samawati wal-ard. Wa lakal-hamd, anta-l-haq wa wa'duka-lhaq, wa liqa'uka Haq, wa qauluka Haq, wal-jannatu Han wan-naru Haq wannabiyuna Haq. Wa Muhammadun, sallal-lahu'alaihi wasallam, Haq, was-sa'atu Haq. Allahumma aslamtu Laka wabika amantu, wa 'Alaika tawakkaltu, wa ilaika anabtu wa bika khasamtu, wa ilaika hakamtu faghfir li ma qaddamtu wama akh-khartu wama as-rartu wama'a lantu, anta-l-muqaddim wa anta-l-mu akh-khir, la ilaha illa anta (or la ilaha ghairuka). (O Allah! All the praises are for you, You are the Holder of the Heavens and the Earth, And whatever is in them. All the praises are for You; You have the possession of the Heavens and the Earth And whatever is in them. All the praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth And all the praises are for You; You are the King of the Heavens and the Earth; And all the praises are for You; You are the Truth and Your Promise is the truth, And to meet You is true, Your Word is the truth And Paradise is true And Hell is true And all the Prophets (Peace be upon them) are true; And Muhammad is true, And the Day of Resurrection is true. O Allah ! I surrender (my will) to You; I believe in You and depend on You. And repent to You, And with Your help I argue (with my opponents, the non-believers) And I take You as a judge (to judge between us). Please forgive me my previous And future sins; And whatever I concealed or revealed And You are the One who make (some people) forward And (some) backward. There is none to be worshipped but you . Sufyan said that `Abdul Karim Abu Umaiya added to the above, 'Wala haula Wala quwata illa billah' (There is neither might nor power except with Allah). Sufyan, Sulaiman bin Abu Muslim, Taus, Hadrat Ibn-e-Abbas رضی اللہ عنہما reported the same from the Prophet (ﷺ).

In the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ) whosoever saw a dream would narrate it to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). I had a wish of seeing a dream to narrate it to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I was a grown up boy and used to sleep in the Mosque in the lifetime of the Prophet. I saw in the dream that two angels caught hold of me and took me to the Fire which was built all round like a built well and had two poles in it and the people in it were known to me. I started saying, "I seek refuge with Allah from the Fire." Then I met another angel who told me not to be afraid. I narrated the dream to Hafsa who told it to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). The Prophet said, "Abdullah is a good man. I wish he prayed Tahajjud." After that `Abdullah (i.e. Salim's father) رضی اللہ عنہما used to sleep but a little at night.

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to offer eleven rak`at and that was his prayer. He used to prolong the prostration to such an extent that one could recite fifty verses (of the Qur'an) before he would lift his head. He used to pray two rak`at (Sunna) before the Fajr prayer and then used to lie down on his right side till the call-maker came and informed him about the prayer.

The Prophet (ﷺ) became sick and did not get up (for Tahajjud prayer) for a night or two.

Gabriel علیہ السلام did not come to the Prophet (for some time) and so one of the Quraish women said, "His Satan has deserted him." So came the Divine Revelation: "By the forenoon And by the night When it is still! Your Lord (O Muhammad) has neither Forsaken you Nor hated you." (93.1-3)

One night the Prophet (ﷺ) got up and said, "Subhan Allah! How many afflictions Allah has revealed tonight and how many treasures have been sent down (disclosed). Go and wake the sleeping lady occupants of these dwellings up (for prayers), perhaps a well dressed in this world may be naked in the Hereafter."

One night Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came to me and Fatima رضی اللہ عنہما , the daughter of the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked, "Won't you pray (at night)?" I said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Our souls are in the hands of Allah and if He wants us to get up He will make us get up." When I said that, he left us without saying anything and I heard that he was hitting his thigh and saying, "But man is more quarrelsome than anything." (18.54)

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to give up a good deed, although he loved to do it, for fear that people might act on it and it might be made compulsory for them. The Prophet (ﷺ) never prayed the Duha prayer, but I offer it.

One night Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) offered the prayer in the Mosque and the people followed him. The next night he also offered the prayer and too many people gathered. On the third and the fourth nights more people gathered, but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not come out to them. In the morning he said, "I saw what you were doing and nothing but the fear that it (i.e. the prayer) might be enjoined on you, stopped me from coming to you." And that happened in the month of Ramadan.

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to stand (in the prayer) or pray till both his feet or legs swelled. He was asked why (he offered such an unbearable prayer) and he said, "should I not be a thankful slave."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) told me, "The most beloved prayer to Allah is that of Dã'Ud(David) علیہ السلام and the most beloved fasts to Allah are those of Dã'Ud علیہ السلام . He used to sleep for half of the night and then pray for one third of the night and again sleep for its sixth part and used to fast on alternate days."

Which deed was most loved by the Prophet. She said, "A deed done continuously." I further asked, "When did he used to get up (in the night for the prayer)." She said, "He used to get up on hearing the crowing of a cock." Narrated Al-Ashath: He (the Prophet (ﷺ)) used to get up for the prayer on hearing the crowing of a cock.

In my house he (Prophet (ﷺ) ) never passed the last hours of the night but sleeping.

"The Prophet (ﷺ) and Zaid bin Thabit رضی اللہ عنہ took their Suhur together. When they finished it, the Prophet (ﷺ) stood for the (Fajr) prayer and offered it." We asked Anas رضی اللہ عنہ , "What was the interval between their finishing the Suhur and the starting of the morning prayer?" Anas replied, "It was equal to the time taken by a person in reciting fifty verses of the Qur'an."

"One night I offered the Tahajjud prayer with the Prophet (ﷺ) and he kept on standing till an ill-thought came to me." We said, "What was the ill-thought?" He said, "It was to sit down and leave the Prophet (standing)."

Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) got up for Tahajjud prayer he used to clean his mouth (and teeth) with Siwak.

A man said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! How is the prayer of the night?" He said, "Two rak`at followed by two rak`at and so on, and when you apprehend the approaching dawn, offer one rak`a as witr."

The prayer of the Prophet (ﷺ) used to be of thirteen rak`at, i.e. of the night prayer.

I asked Aisha رضی اللہ عنہا about the night prayer of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and she said, "It was seven, nine or eleven rak`at besides the two rak`at of the Fajr prayer (i.e. Sunna). "

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to offer thirteen rak`at of the night prayer and that included the witr and two rak`at (Sunna) of the Fajr prayer.

Sometimes Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) would not fast (for so many days) that we thought that he would not fast that month and he sometimes used to fast (for so many days) that we thought he would not leave fasting throughout that month and (as regards his prayer and sleep at night), if you wanted to see him praying at night, you could see him praying and if you wanted to see him sleeping, you could see him sleeping. Sulaiman and Abu Khalid Ahmar corroborated him from Humaid.

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Satan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, 'The night is long, so stay asleep.' When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said in his narration of a dream that he saw, "He whose head was being crushed with a stone was one who learnt the Qur'an but never acted on it, and slept ignoring the compulsory prayers."

A person was mentioned before the Prophet (ﷺ) and he was told that he had kept on sleeping till morning and had not got up for the prayer. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Satan urinated in his ears."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains, saying: "Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?"