In keeping with this, His words, “So recite whatever is easy of it,” have been interpreted as reciting it at night so as not to forget it. And the Prophet said:

“I examined the sins of my community and found among them that a man is granted a verse by Allah, but sleeps instead of reciting it until he forgets it.”

In the Sahīh, it is reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever prays ‘Ishā’ in congregation, it is as though he has spent half the night in prayer; and whoever prays Fajr in congregation, it is as though he has spent the entire night in prayer.”

This means Fajr together with ‘Ishā’. This indicates that these two prayers are not themselves part of night prayer, but that whoever performs them is like someone who has spent the night in prayer.

Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, the righteous will be amid gardens and springs, receiving what their Lord has given them. Indeed, before that they were doers of good. They used to sleep but little of the night, and before dawn they would seek forgiveness.”

And He says:

“Those who are patient, truthful, devoutly obedient, charitable, and who seek forgiveness before dawn.”

According to the soundest interpretation, this means that they used to sleep little. Thus, qalīlan (“little”) is in the accusative, governed by yahja‘ūn (“they sleep”), while mā serves for emphasis. This is like His words:

“Rather, Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so little do they believe.”

His words, “They used to sleep but little of the night,” are explained in Sūrat al-Muzzammil by His words:

“Stand in prayer at night, except for a little—half of it, or a little less, or a little more—and recite the Quran with measured recitation.”

The portion excepted from the command is the “little” mentioned in those surahs. It is little in relation to the combined span of night and day. For if they sleep for a third, a half, or two-thirds of the night, this is little compared with the portion of night and day during which they do not sleep, whether or not they sleep during the day.