In another wording, recorded in the Ṣaḥīḥ, it states:
“When he raised his head between the two prostrations …”
Likewise, al-Bukhārī relates—through Shuʿbah, from Thābit—that Anas used to describe the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saying:
“When he lifted his head from bowing, he would remain standing so long that we would say, ‘He has forgotten.’ ”
This clarifies that, in Anas’s view, the Prophet’s prayer was distinguished by lengthening the bowing, the prostration, and the pauses after each of them beyond what people ordinarily did, while shortening the standing recitation in comparison to common practice.
Muslim also transmits—through Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān, from Thābit, from Anas—who said:
“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would hear a child crying with its mother while he was in prayer, so he would recite a light surah, or a short surah.”
This shows that the lightening he practiced pertained to shortening the recitation, even though that
(1) See Sahih al-Bukhari, the hadith cited above.
(2) MS B reads: li-riwayah.
(3) Likewise in MS T, in Sahih al-Bukhari, and in MSS B, J, D, as well as the printed edition: fa-idha ("then, when").
(4) MS B reads: yaqul ("he says").
(5) Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Adhan, chapter "Composure when raising the head from bowing," hadith no. 800 (Fath al-Bari, 2:287).
(6) The phrase wa taqsir al-qiyam ʿamma kana al-nas yafʿalunah ("and shortening the standing portion compared with what the people used to do") is absent from MSS J and D.
(7) The narrator is Jaʿfar ibn Sulayman al-Dubaiʿi, Abu Sulayman, a Basran of the eighth generation; he is deemed reliable, and both Bukhari and Muslim transmit from him. Ibn Hajar states in al-Taqrib: "truthful and ascetic, though he inclined toward Shiʿism." He died in 178 AH. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:131, no. 83.
(8) Sahih Muslim, Book of Prayer, chapter "Instructing imams to shorten the prayer while keeping it complete," hadith no. 470 (1:342).
(9) The printed edition adds: salla Allahu ʿalayhi wa ʿala alihi wa sallam ("may Allah bless him, his family, and grant them peace").