He answered, “I felt like sitting down and letting him continue,” meaning that he wanted to sit because he could not endure what the Prophet ﷺ endured.

Likewise, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān once prayed beside him for a whole night. The Prophet ﷺ recited al-Baqarah, then al-Nisā’, then Āl ʿImrān—altogether roughly five and a quarter juzʾs. Hudhayfah relates, “Whenever a verse of mercy appeared, he would ask for it; whenever a verse of glorification appeared, he would proclaim Allah’s transcendence; and whenever a verse of threat appeared, he would seek refuge.” It is well known that he ﷺ used to recite slowly and deliberately.

Five and a quarter juzʾs, accompanied by supplication at the verses of mercy, seeking refuge at the verses of warning, and glorification at the verses of tasbīḥ—imagine how long that standing must have been! Such was the Prophet’s nightly recitation ﷺ.

When he lengthened the recitation, he also lengthened his bowing and his prostration; thus his recitation, his bowing, and his prostration were all prolonged.

Suppose, for example, that he rose for prayer on a winter night that lasts twelve hours. If he stood for a little less than two-thirds of the night—let us say about seven hours—he would remain in prayer for that entire long night. Picture his state ﷺ! Yet he restrained his soul, strove against it, and said, “Shall I not love to be a grateful servant?”