Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, say: “There is an hour during the night in which no Muslim individual will ask Allah for good in this world and the next without His giving it to him - and this applies to every night.” [Muslim]
A servant of Abu Rayhaan, may Allah be pleased with him, who was one of the companions of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Once Abu Rayhaan, may Allah be pleased with him, returned from a battle and had dinner with his family and then requested water so that he could perform ablution. He then entered his praying area and started praying the optional night prayer (Qiyaam) and continued to pray until the call for the Fajr prayer was made. His wife then came to him and said: ‘You were exhausted fighting and immediately after that you spent the entire night praying. Do I not have any rights over you?’ He, may Allah be pleased with him, replied: ‘Indeed you do, but I was so overwhelmed that I did not realise that the night had finished.’ She asked: ‘What was it that preoccupied your mind all night long?’ He, may Allah be pleased with him, replied: ‘I was thinking about the pleasures of Paradise and its description until I heard the call for the Fajr prayer.’”
Is’haaq ibn Ibraheem At-Tabari, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I never saw anyone fearing for himself the punishment (of the Hereafter) or having the hope of being amongst those who would be rewarded more than Al-Fudhayl, may Allah have mercy upon him. His recitation during the prayer was slow and he sounded gloomy - as if he was conversing with someone by his recitation. Whenever he read a verse that mentioned Paradise, he would repeat it and supplicate to Allah to admit him into it. His night prayer was very long and he had a mat in the mosque to sleep on whenever he felt sleepy. He would begin praying and whenever he felt sleepy he would lie down for a while, then wake up and resume praying. If he again felt drained, he would lie down again. This continued all night long until it was time for the Fajr prayer.”
Rajaa’ ibn Muslim Al-‘Abdi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “We used to spend the night in the house of ‘Ajradah Al-‘Amiyyah, may Allah have mercy upon her, and she would pray all night long. In the last part of the night, we would hear her say (aloud) in an extremely heartrending tone: ‘O Allah! The devout worshippers have spent all night praying to please You in the hope of being worthy of Your Mercy and Forgiveness, so I ask You to make me among those who rush towards You in obedience and to make my rank (in the Hereafter) among those who are near to You, and to make me among your righteous slaves. Indeed, You are the Greatest, the Most Merciful, and You are indeed the Most Generous.’ She would then prostrate and cry and supplicate until it was time to pray the Fajr prayer. She did this for thirty consecutive years.”
Moosa ibn Tareef, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “The servant of ‘Ali ibn Bakkaar, may Allah have mercy upon him, would lay down a mat for him to sleep on, touch it with his hand, and say: ‘I swear by Allah that you are soft and comfortable, but also I swear by Allah that I will not sleep on you tonight!’ Having prayed all night long, he would pray the Fajr prayer with the same ablution as that of his ‘Ishaa’ Prayer.”
Ibn Sa’d, may Allah have mercy upon him, said describing Sulaymaan At-Taymi, may Allah have mercy upon him: “He was one of the most devout worshippers. He was a scholar in the science of Hadith and was a trustworthy and honest man. He would pray all night long with the same ablution of the ‘Ishaa’ prayer. He and his son would go around to the different mosques praying in each one of them until it was time to pray the Fajr prayer.”
Al-Hasan al-Karaabeesi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I spent many nights at the house of Imaam Ash-Shaafi’i, may Allah have mercy upon him, and he would pray one third of the night. However, he never recited more than fifty verses during his prayer, because whenever he would recite a verse that mentions the Mercy of Allah, he would ask Allah to be merciful with him, and whenever he would recite a verse that mentions the punishment of Allah, he would ask Allah to protect him from such punishment.”
Umm Sa’eed, may Allah have mercy upon her, said: “We had a short fence separating our house from that of Daawood At-Taa’i’s, and I used to hear a constant droning all night long. At times he would sit to recite parts of the Qur’an just before the time of the Fajr prayer, and I felt as if he enjoyed all the pleasures of the world by his recitation.”
Sa’eed ibn ‘Aamir, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Ayyoob As-Sikhtiyaani, may Allah have mercy upon him, used to pray all night long and would conceal this from people. When it was close to the time of the Fajr prayer, he would raise his voice as if he had just woken up.”
Ibn Shubrumah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Zubayd, may Allah have mercy upon him, used to divide the night into three parts between him and his two sons. He would pray the first third of the night and then wake his first son up to pray, and if his son was sluggish or sleepy and could not wake up, he would pray his share. When it was time for his second son to pray, he would wake him up, and if he was sluggish or sleepy and could not wake up, he would pray his share as well.”
