- The Nightfall Prayer (ʿIshāʾ)
In the first two rakʿahs he ﷺ would recite from the middle mufassal sūrahs. At times he chose “By the sun and its brightness” (91:15) and other sūrahs of similar length; at other times he recited “When the sky is split asunder” (84:25) and performed the prostration of recitation contained in it; and once, while travelling, he recited “By the fig and the olive” (95:8) in the first rakʿah.
He forbade making the recitation in this prayer excessively long. This occurred when Muʿādh ibn Jabal led his people in ʿIshāʾ and prolonged it, whereupon an Anṣārī man left the congregation and prayed on his own. When Muʿādh was told of this he said, “He is a hypocrite.” The man reported the matter to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said to Muʿādh, “Do you want to become a trial-maker, Muʿādh? When you lead the people, recite: ‘By the sun and its brightness’ (91:15), ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (87:19), ‘Recite in the name of your Lord’ (96:19), and ‘By the night when it envelops’ (92:21), for behind you are the elderly, the weak, and those with needs.” ⦗490–498⦘
- The Night Prayer (Qiyām al-Layl)
In this prayer the Prophet ﷺ would sometimes recite aloud and sometimes quietly. He might make the recitation short, lengthen it, or on occasion prolong it to an exceptional degree. Ibn Masʿūd said, “I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ one night and he remained standing until I began to think evil thoughts.” He was asked, “What thoughts?” He answered, “I thought of sitting down and leaving the Prophet ﷺ to continue on his own.”
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān said, “I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ one night. He opened with al-Baqarah, and I thought he would bow at the hundredth verse, but he kept going. I then thought he would finish it in a single rakʿah, yet he continued. I thought he would bow when he completed it, but he then began al-Nisāʾ and recited it, and after that Āl ʿImrān and recited it—reciting deliberately: whenever he came to a verse of glorification he glorified, when he encountered a verse of petition he asked, and when he reached a verse of seeking refuge he sought refuge—then he bowed….”
One night, while suffering from illness, he recited the seven long sūrahs, and at times he would recite one of those sūrahs in every rakʿah.
It was never known that he ﷺ completed the entire Qur’an in a single night. Indeed, he did not approve of it even for ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, to whom he said, “Finish the Qur’an in a month.” Ibn ʿAmr replied, “I feel I have more strength.” He said, “Then finish it in twenty nights.” I said, “I feel I have more strength.” He said, “Then finish it in seven…”