“Allah hears the one who praises Him—Jarir adds: ‘Our Lord, to You belongs all praise’—then he stood for a long time, nearly as long as his bowing; after that he prostrated and said: ‘Subhana rabbiy al-a‘la’ (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High). His prostration was almost as long as his standing.” Al-Hafiz comments (3/15): “Such a performance would take roughly two hours; it is therefore likely that the Prophet ﷺ spent that entire night in worship. Concerning his practice on nights other than this, Aishah states that he would normally stand for about one-third of the night.” I say: It is also authentically reported from her that the Prophet ﷺ never stood in prayer until dawn; this is understood to describe what he did most of the time, as will be clarified below. Furthermore, al-Hafiz’s estimate of “about two hours” does not square with actual experience. Only a few days ago we performed the eclipse prayer on the night of Monday (16/1/66 H). In the first rak‘ah we recited Surah Ibrahim, and in the second a comparable portion from Surah al-Isra. We prolonged both bowings in each rak‘ah, as well as the two prostrations and the intervals between them, giving each position some degree of lengthening in accordance with the sunnah—yet it cannot accurately be said that each of those positions equaled the standing or approached it. Even so, the entire prayer occupied a full hour. How, then, can this be compared to the Prophet’s ﷺ four-rak‘ah night prayer—as indicated by the strongest reports—in which he recites in the first rak‘ah three of the long surahs, reciting slowly and deliberately, pausing to beseech Allah and seek His protection, then making his bowing, prostration, and the intervals between them almost as long as his standing? This could not conceivably be completed in less than three hours. If another three rak‘ahs are added, the Prophet ﷺ would indeed have spent the whole night in worship. Someone might object that, on the basis of what we have just described, the night would not be long enough for such a prayer, since it would require twelve hours. The answer is that the final three rak‘ahs may well have been shorter than the first, for it is known from his ﷺ regular practice that he usually made the first rak‘ah longer than the second.