80 – It is authentically reported in the Ṣaḥīḥ (1) that he said: “The finest pattern of night worship is that of David: he would sleep half the night, rise for prayer during one-third of it, and then sleep for the remaining one-sixth. The finest fast is likewise the fast of David: he would fast one day and refrain the next.”
81 – It is also soundly transmitted in the Ṣaḥīḥ (2) that he forbade ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr (A) to fast continuously or to spend the entire night in prayer, telling him that the best and most balanced fast is to fast one day and break the fast the next.
82 – Hence it must be understood that this practice is superior to what many of the early and later generations undertook—such as praying the dawn prayer with the same ablution used for the night prayer for so-and-so many years, fasting the whole year so that they broke the fast only on the five days, adopting lifelong celibacy, and similar forms of devotion (3).
(1) Al-Bukhari, 1131; Muslim, 1159 (189).
(2) Al-Bukhari, 1131; Muslim, 1159 (186).
(3) Benefit: The hafiz al-Dhahabi states:
In the biography of Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash: “It has been transmitted through several chains that Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash spent almost forty years completing a full recitation of the Qur’an once every day and night. Such devotion surely commands respect, yet adhering to the Sunnah is preferable. It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) forbade Abdullah ibn Amr to finish the Qur’an in fewer than three days, and he said: ‘Whoever recites the Qur’an in less than three days has not understood it.’” Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, 8/503.
And in the biography of the imam Waki‘ ibn al-Jarrah: “Yahya ibn Aktham said, ‘I accompanied Waki‘ in residence and on journey; he fasted continuously and completed the Qur’an every night.’”
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(a) The source text reads “Abdullah ibn ‘Umar”; the correction to “Abdullah ibn ‘Amr” follows the cited hadith collections.