Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 12625 — The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave my father

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave my father (Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him) a young she-camel as a gift, but he considered it too small. Then he said to me: O my son, take it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and say: We are people who put (camels) to work; if you have an older one than this, then send it to us. So I brought it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "My cousin, take it to the camels of charity." Then I came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) in the mosque and prayed the Isha prayer with him (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Will you not stay the night with your maternal aunt tonight? Evening has already come." As it happened, that night was the turn of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (that is, with Sayyidah Maymunah, may Allah be pleased with her). So I went to her; she gave me supper and spread out for me a cloak folded in four, and I lay down on it, and I said: I will certainly see what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does tonight. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in and said: "O Maymunah!" She said: Here I am, O Messenger of Allah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Did your sister's son come to you (today)?" She said: Yes, here he is. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then, if you had something, did you not give him supper?" She said: I have done so. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And did you spread out bedding for him?" She said: Yes. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) inclined towards his bed, but did not lie on it; rather he lay beside it and placed his head on the bed. He remained like that for a while, then I heard the sound of his breathing in sleep (peace and blessings be upon him), so I said (to myself): He has fallen asleep, he is not awake, and he will not stand (in prayer) tonight. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) got up when, by my estimate, a third or a quarter of the night had passed. He (peace and blessings be upon him) went to his tooth-stick (miswak) and his water vessel for ablution and used the miswak, until I heard the grating of his teeth (peace and blessings be upon him) under the miswak, while he (peace and blessings be upon him) was reciting these verses: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth" [Surah al-Baqarah: 164]. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) put down the miswak, then stood up towards a water-skin and untied its cord. I wanted to get up and pour water for him (peace and blessings be upon him), but I feared that I might become an obstacle to some of his practice (peace and blessings be upon him). When he (peace and blessings be upon him) had completed his ablution, he entered his place of prayer and prayed four rak'ahs, reciting in each rak'ah about the measure of fifty verses, and making the bowing and prostration long. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the same place where he had lain before, lay down for a long while and began breathing in sleep, so I said (to myself): He will not get up tonight until morning. Then, when a third of the night, or half of it, or close to that had passed, he (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and did as before: he entered his place of prayer and prayed four rak'ahs in the same way. Then he came to his bed, reclined on it and began breathing in sleep, so I said (to myself): Sleep has overtaken him; he will not get up until morning. Then, when a sixth of the night or less remained, he (peace and blessings be upon him) got up, used the miswak, then performed ablution, then entered his place of prayer, said the takbir and began with Surah al-Fatihah, then recited "Sabbih isma rabbika al-a'la" (Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High), then bowed and prostrated. Then he stood and recited Surah al-Fatihah, then recited "Sabbih isma rabbika al-a'la", then bowed and prostrated. Then he stood and recited Surah al-Fatihah and "Qul ya ayyuha al-kafirun" (Say: O disbelievers), then bowed and prostrated. Then he stood and recited Surah al-Fatihah and "Qul ya ayyuha al-kafirun", then bowed and prostrated. Then he stood and recited Surah al-Fatihah and "Qul huwa Allahu ahad" (Say: He is Allah, the One), then recited the qunut, then bowed and prostrated. When he had finished, he sat until, when the dawn broke, he called me. I said: Here I am, O Messenger of Allah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Get up; by Allah, you were not asleep." So I got up, performed ablution and prayed behind him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) recited Surah al-Fatihah and "Qul huwa Allahu ahad", then bowed and prostrated; then he stood in the second rak'ah and recited Surah al-Fatihah and "Qul ya ayyuha al-kafirun". When he gave the salam, I heard him (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "O Allah, place light in my heart, place light in my hearing, place light in my sight, place light in front of me, place light behind me, place light on my right, place light on my left, place light above me, place light beneath me, and make light great for me, O Lord of all the worlds!"