(1) Wa'il b. Hujr narrated this description: “I said, ‘I shall watch the prayer of the Messenger of Allah to see how he performs it.’ So I observed him: he stood, uttered the takbir and raised his hands until they were level with his ears, then placed his right hand on the back of his left hand, the wrist and the forearm. When he intended to bow he raised his hands in the same manner and put them on his knees. When he lifted his head he again raised his hands likewise. He then prostrated, placing his palms level with his ears; after that he sat, spread his left leg beneath him, rested his left palm on his left thigh and knee, set the edge of his right elbow on his right thigh, drew together two fingers and formed a ring, then raised his index finger, and I saw him moving it while supplicating with it.” Recorded by Abu Dawud (1/115), al-Nasa'i (1/141), al-Darimi (1/314), Ibn Khuzaymah (1/54/2 = 1/243/480), Ibn Hibban (no. 485), Ibn al-Jarud in al-Muntaqa (no. 208), al-Bayhaqi (2/27–28, 132), and Ahmad (4/318) through several routes from Zaydah, who said: “Asim b. Kulaib narrated to us, who said: my father narrated to me that Wa'il b. Hujr informed him …” This chain is continuous and sound according to Muslim’s criterion. Ibn Hajar remarked in Fath al-Bari (2/178), “Ibn Khuzaymah and others declared it authentic,” and in Talkhis al-Habir (3/280–281) he credited the authentication to Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Hibban. It was likewise graded sahih by al-Nawawi in al-Majmu, Ibn al-Qayyim (1/85), and Ibn al-Mulqin (28/2). A sound corroborating report from Sahl b. Sa'd follows. A briefer version of Wa'il’s report is also transmitted by Muslim (2/13), Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, al-Darimi (1/283), Ibn Majah (1/270–271), al-Darqutni (p. 107), al-Bayhaqi, al-Tayalisi (nos. 1020, 1024), and Ahmad (4/316–319).