Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 1750

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the Isha prayer until the people in the mosque went back, except Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) and some of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), numbering fifteen or sixteen, not reaching seventeen, who remained. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I will not leave the mosque tonight until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) comes out and I pray behind him, and I learn what matter has kept him." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out at about a third of the night, and Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) was with him. He did not see anyone in the mosque; meanwhile the sound of these people's voices was heard from a corner of the mosque, so he walked over to them, greeted them with salam and asked: "Why have you stayed until this hour?" They said: "O Prophet of Allah, we have been waiting for you so that we may join the prayer behind you." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No nation before you has ever offered this prayer of yours, and you have been counted as in prayer all along." Then he said: "The stars are the security of the heaven; when the stars are extinguished, there will come upon the people of the heaven what they have been promised. I am the security of my Companions; when I depart, there will come upon my Companions what they have been promised. And my Companions are the security of my Ummah; when my Companions depart, there will come upon my Ummah what it has been promised." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) A hadith from this Companion is also narrated in the "Sahih" about praying Isha late, but it is other than this narration.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy.