Musnad Ahmad

Sa’d bin Hisham, may Allah have mercy on him, says that once I reached Madinah Munawwarah and presented myself before Hazrat Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. She asked me, “Who are you?” I replied, “Sa’d bin Hisham.” She said, “May Allah send His mercy upon your father.” I said, “Tell me about the (night) prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” Hazrat Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would lead the people in the ‘Isha prayer, then come to his bed. In the middle of the night, he would wake up, perform ablution, enter the mosque, and pray eight rak’ahs with equal recitation, bowing, and prostration. Then he would pray one rak’ah of witr, then while sitting, he would pray two rak’ahs, then lay his head down and rest. Sometimes, before he would doze off, Hazrat Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, would come and inform him of the prayer. This continued in the same way until, when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, became heavy in body and advanced in age, he reduced the eight rak’ahs to six, but the rest of the routine remained the same.