Praying witr at the beginning or end of the night and before sleeping

Sayyiduna Abu Mas'ud Uqbah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): He (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform the witr in the early part of the night, or in the middle part, or in the last part (that is, at any time).
Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat recorded this narration, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy). Imam al-Tabarani added these words: "Whichever of these a person does, it will be correct."

It is reported about Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he performed the Isha prayer in the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then performed one rak'ah of witr and did not add anything to it. He was asked: O Abu Ishaq, have you performed one rak'ah of witr? Have you not added anything to it? He replied: Yes, I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The one who does not sleep without performing the witr (that is, he performs the witr before sleeping) is hazim (a prudent person)."
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded this part of the narration: "I saw Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) performing one rak'ah of witr"; he did not mention the rest of it.
Imam Ahmad recorded this narration, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade me from going to sleep without performing the witr.
Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration; its chain contains a narrator, Abdullah bin Shabib, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him); he said: When do you perform the witr? He replied: I perform the witr in the early part of the night. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is the way of a cautious and sensible person. Then he asked Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): When do you perform the witr? He replied: In the last part of the night. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is the way of a strong person and one who has been given help.
Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat recorded this narration; its chain contains a narrator, Sulayman bin Dawud al-Yamami, who is extremely da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): When do you perform the witr? He replied: I keep praying two rak'ahs at a time, then I perform the witr before I sleep. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: This is the way of a cautious believer. He asked Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): When do you perform the witr? He replied: I keep praying two rak'ahs at a time, then I sleep, until I perform the witr in the last part of the night (after waking up). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is the way of a strong believer.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Ibn Lahi'ah, about whom criticism has been made.

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrate: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would sometimes perform the witr in the early part of the night or in its middle part, so that there would be latitude for the Muslims.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; the chain of this narration contains a person who is da'if al-hadith (weak in hadith).

Thuwayr bin Abi Fakhitah narrates from a Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) whose name was Sayyiduna Abu al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him): He asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the witr, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Would you like me to perform the witr at midnight? Indeed, Allah Almighty descends (at midnight) from the uppermost heaven to the lowest heaven and says: Is there anyone asking? Is there anyone seeking forgiveness? Is there anyone supplicating? (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:) This continues until true dawn; when true dawn appears, He ascends.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and the narrator Thuwayr is da'if (weak).

Alqamah narrates: A man came to Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: Tell us when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform the witr. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When about as much of the night remained as had passed of it, back to the Maghrib prayer. They asked about the recitation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It was loud enough that the people of the house would hear it.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Ja'far bin Muhammad bin al-Hasan; I do not know him.

Al-Aswad bin Hilal narrates: I bear witness concerning Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that I heard him calling out loudly, saying: The witr is to be performed between two prayers, the Isha prayer, which you call 'Atamah', and the Fajr prayer; whenever you perform the witr (between these two prayers), it is good.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Abd Khayr narrates: We were in the mosque when, in the last part of the night, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came out to us and said: Where is the person who was asking about the witr? We gathered around him, and he said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform the witr in the early part of the night, and also in its middle part, and also at this hour (that is, in the last part of the night). When he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, he was performing the witr at this hour.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Abu Shaybah, who is da'if (weak).

It is reported about Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he would come out when Ibn al-Tayyah gave the call to prayer at the first dawn, and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) would say: This is the best hour for the witr. He said this interpreting this verse of the Qur'an (Allah Almighty says): "And by the dawn when it breathes."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, al-Hasan bin Abi Ja'far al-Jafri, who is matruk (abandoned).