It has already been cited through the chain of Salām ibn Sulaymān, from Thābit, from Anas ibn Mālik, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Fine fragrance and women have been made dear to me, and the delight of my eyes is in the prayer.” (1) Reported by Aḥmad and al-Nasāʾī.

Imām Aḥmad also related: ‘Affān narrated to us, Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, who said: ʿAlī ibn Zayd informed me, from Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that Gabriel said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Prayer has been made beloved to you, so take from it whatever you wish.” (2)

Both Ṣaḥīḥs likewise authenticate the report of Abū al-Dardāʾ, who said: “We set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ during Ramaḍān in intense heat, and none of us was fasting except the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Rawāḥah.” (3)

And in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, through Manṣūr, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqamah, who said: “I asked ʿĀʾishah whether the Messenger of Allah ﷺ singled out certain days for special worship. She replied, ‘No. His deeds were constant, and which of you can manage what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ could manage?’” (4)

The two Ṣaḥīḥs also transmit, on the authority of Anas, ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿUmar, Abū Hurayrah, and ʿĀʾishah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would practice continuous fasting (wiṣāl) and forbade his Companions from doing so, saying: “I am not like one of you; I spend the night with my Lord who feeds me and gives me drink.” (5)

The sound position is that this feeding and drinking are intangible, as indicated in the ḥadīth recorded by Ibn Mājah (6): the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Do not force your sick to eat or drink, for indeed Allah feeds them and gives them drink.” (7)

How beautifully someone once said:
“Thoughts of you so occupy her mind
that she forgets to drink and neglects her food.”