The Sunnah of lengthening the first two and shortening the last two

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him): The people of Kufah have complained about you in everything, even about the prayer.

(a) It is narrated from Abu Awn that he said: I heard Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) say that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him): The people of Kufah have complained about you in everything, even about the prayer. He said: As for me, I lengthen the first two rak'ahs and shorten the last two, and I took this from the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); I do not fall short in it in any way. Umar al-Faruq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: You have spoken the truth; this is what was expected of you.
(b) In the hadith of Shababah it is: I lead them in the first two rak'ahs at length and the other two briefly. At its end it is that he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Abu Ishaq, this is what I thought of you.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the people of Kufah complained about Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) removed him from office and appointed Sayyiduna Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) as governor over the people of Kufah. The people of Kufah made many complaints about Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), until they even said that he could not lead the prayer properly. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent for Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: O Abu Ishaq! The people of Kufah say that you cannot lead the prayer properly. He replied: I swear by Allah, I used to lead them in prayer exactly as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lead the prayer. I did not fall short in it in the least. When I lead the Isha prayer, I lengthen the first two rak'ahs and make the last two rak'ahs light. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Abu Ishaq! That is what was expected of you.
Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent one man, or several men, with him, saying that they should ask the people of Kufah about their complaints regarding Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him). They did not leave a single mosque without asking about Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), and everyone only praised him. Then they went to the mosque of Banu Abs. There a man stood up who was called Usamah bin Qatadah, whose kunyah was Abu Sa'dah. He said: Since you ask us under oath, the truth is that Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) did not go out with the army to fight, did not divide the spoils of war equally, and did not observe justice in disputes.
On hearing this, Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah! I will make three supplications against you: "O Allah! If this servant of Yours is lying and has stood up only to show off and to be heard by people, then lengthen his life, keep him afflicted with poverty for a long time, and keep him caught up in trials." Then that man's condition became exactly so. After that, whenever anyone asked him how he was, he would say: I am an old man; this condition of mine is because of the supplication of Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him). Abd al-Malik says: I too saw him. He had become so old that his eyebrows had fallen over his eyes, and he would stand in the streets winking at young girls.