while the sun was still bright—the narrator said, “I have forgotten what he said concerning the sunset prayer”—and he preferred to delay the night prayer, which you call the late-night prayer. He disliked sleeping before it and conversing after it. He would conclude the dawn prayer when a man could recognize the person sitting beside him, and he would recite between sixty and one hundred verses in it.”
Abū Sa'īd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “We estimated the length of the Messenger of Allah’s standing (peace and blessings be upon him) in the midday and afternoon prayers. We estimated his standing in the first two rak'ahs of the midday prayer to be the length of approximately thirty verses—about the length of the surah Alif Lām Mīm al-Sajda (The Prostration). We estimated his standing in the first two rak'ahs of the afternoon prayer to be as long as the final two rak'ahs of the midday prayer, and his standing in the final two rak'ahs of the afternoon prayer to be half that length.” This was related by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasā'ī.
In the two Sahih collections and elsewhere, Jābir ibn Samura reported that Umar said to Sa'd ibn Abī Waqqās: “The people have complained about you in every matter, even in prayer.” He replied, “As for me, I prolong the first two rak'ahs and make the final two brief, and I spare no effort in following the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” Umar said, “That is what we expected of you, Abū Ishāq.”
Sahih Muslim also relates that Abū Sa'īd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The midday prayer would be commenced, and a person could go to al-Baqī', relieve himself, perform ablution, and then return while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was still in the first rak'ah, because he prolonged it so much.”
Sahih Muslim also relates that Abū Wā'il said: “Ammār ibn Yāsir once addressed us. He was brief yet eloquent. We said, ‘Abū al-Yaqzān, you have spoken eloquently and concisely. If only you had spoken a little longer.’ He replied, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)