I once asked Jābir ibn Samurah about the Prophet’s prayer (1). He replied, “He would keep the prayer light and did not pray the way these people do.”
He went on to say, “He also informed me that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used to recite in the dawn prayer: ‘Qāf. By the Glorious Qur’an,’ and other surahs of comparable length (2).”
Muslim likewise reports—through Shuʿbah, from Simāk, from Jābir ibn Samurah (3)—that he said: “In the Ẓuhr prayer the Prophet recited ‘By the night when it enshrouds,’ in ʿAṣr something similar, and in the morning prayer longer than that (4).”
This clarifies another narration recorded by Muslim, from Zāʾidah (5), who said that Simāk related to us from Jābir ibn Samurah: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to recite in the dawn prayer ‘Qāf. By the Glorious Qur’an,’ and thereafter his prayers were light (6)(7).”
He—Allah knows best—meant by the phrase “and thereafter his prayers” that after the dawn prayer he would render the subsequent prayers lighter than the Fajr prayer itself (8).
(1) Manuscripts B, J and D, as well as the printed edition, read: “on the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family,” whereas the wording in Sahih Muslim follows MS T, which I have adopted here.
(2) Sahih Muslim, Book of Prayer, chapter “Recitation in the Dawn Prayer,” continuation of hadith no. 458, 1/337.
(3) The Companion in question is Jabir ibn Samurah ibn Junadah ibn Jundub ibn Hujayr al-Amiri al-Suwa i, an ally of Banu Zuhrah. His father was also a Companion. He died in 74 AH. See: al-Isabah 1:212, no. 1018.
(4) Sahih Muslim, Book of Prayer, chapter “Recitation in the Dawn Prayer,” hadith no. 459, 1/337.
(5) The narrator is Zaidah ibn Qudamah al-Thaqafi, Abu al-Salt al-Kufi, a trustworthy and reliable transmitter devoted to the Sunnah and severe with innovators. He was martyred while fighting in Byzantine territory in 161 AH. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 3:306–7, no. 571.
(6) The printed edition—and Sahih Muslim—add the phrase: “wa kana” (and he used to).
(7) Sahih Muslim, same book and chapter as above, hadith no. 458, 1/337.
(8) The phrase “ʿan al-fajr” (concerning the dawn prayer) is missing from MS T.