al-Sunnī, with the following wording:
Alī ibn Abī Tālib said: “I spent one night with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. When he had finished his prayer and settled into his bed, I heard him say: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in Your protection from Your punishment; I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath; and I seek refuge in You from You. O Allah, I could never praise You adequately, however earnestly I tried. Rather, You are as You have praised Yourself.’” (1).
This version specifies when this supplication is to be said, which is reflected in al-Nasā’ī’s chapter heading in his book The Practice of the Day and Night: “What One Should Say after Finishing His Prayer and Settling into His Bed.”
(7-3) One Who Sleeps Through His Witr or Forgets It
Concerning one who sleeps through the night prayer despite intending to perform it, Abū al-Dardā’, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Whoever goes to bed intending to rise and pray during the night, but is overcome by sleep until morning, will have what he intended recorded for him, and his sleep will be a charitable gift bestowed upon him by his Lord, Mighty and Majestic.” Narrated by al-Nasā’ī and Ibn Mājah (2)
(1) Its chain of transmission is authentic.
Al-Nasā'ī recorded it in *'Amal al-Yawm wa al-Layla* (p. 505, hadith no. 891), and Ibn al-Sunnī in *'Amal al-Yawm wa al-Layla* (p. 358, hadith no. 766). This chain, however, is interrupted, as al-Mizzī noted in *Tahdhīb al-Kamāl* (1/57). Al-Nasā'ī also recorded it through another chain under no. 892, and that chain is authentic—and Allah knows best. It was also authenticated by the editors of both al-Nasā'ī’s and Ibn al-Sunnī’s *'Amal al-Yawm wa al-Layla*. Allah knows best.
(2) An authentic report.
Al-Nasā'ī recorded it in *The Book of Night Prayer and Voluntary Prayers during the Day*, chapter “One Who Goes to Bed Intending to Rise for Prayer but Falls Asleep” (3/258); Ibn Khuzayma (2/195–197, hadiths nos. 1172–1175); and Ibn Hibbān (6/323, hadith no. 2588, *al-Ihsān* edition).
Al-Albānī authenticated the hadith in *Irwā' al-Ghalīl* (2/204, hadith no. 454) and stated: “It appears that
[p. 74]
the sounder view is that it is *mawqūf* (attributed only to the Companion). Nevertheless, it has the status of a *marfū'* report, since, as is evident, it could not have been said on the basis of personal opinion.”
I say: The matter is as he stated—may Allah preserve him. The editor of *Jāmi' al-Usūl* (6/73) authenticated the hadith in its *marfū'* form, while the editor of *al-Ihsān* deemed its chain good.