I said to Ata': Which time do you deem fit for me to say the 'Isya' prayer, -as an Imam or alone, -that time which is called by people 'Atama? He said: I heard Ibn 'Abbas saying: The Apostle of Allah ﷺ one night delayed the 'Isya' prayer till the people went to sleep. They woke up and again went to sleep and again woke up. Then 'Umar b. Khattab stood up and said (loudly)" Prayer." Ata' further reported that Ibn 'Abbas said: The Apostle of Allah ﷺ came out, and as if I am still seeing him with water trickling from his head, and with his hand placed on one side of the head, and he said: Were it not hard for my Ummah, I would have ordered them to observe this prayer like this (i. e. at late hours). I inquired from 'Ata' how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ placed his hand upon his head as Ibn Abbas had informed. So Ata' spread his fingers a little and then placed the ends of his fingers on the side of his head. He then moved them like this over his head till the thumb touched that part of the ear which is near the face and then it (went) to the earlock and the part of the heard. It (the bind) neither held nor caught anything but this is how (it moved oil). I said to Ata': Was it mentioned to you (by Ibn Abbas) how long did the Apostle ﷺ delay it (the prayer) during that eight? He said: I do not know (I cannot give you the exact time). Ali' said: I love that I should say prayer, whether as an Imam or alone at delayed hours as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that night, but if It is hard upon you in your individual capacity or upon people in the congregation and you are their Imam, then say prayer ('Isha') at the middle hours neither too early nor too late. (Using translation from Muslim 642)   

سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ يَقُولُ أَعْتَمَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ ذَاتَ لَيْلَةٍ الْعِشَاءَ حَتَّى رَقَدَ النَّاسُ وَاسْتَيْقَظُوا وَرَقَدُوا وَاسْتَيْقَظُوا فَقَامَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ ؓ فَقَالَ الصَّلَاةَ قَالَ عَطَاءٌ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ فَخَرَجَ نَبِيُّ اللهِ ﷺ حَتَّى أَنْظُرَ إِلَيْهِ الْآنَ يَقْطُرُ رَأْسُهُ مَاءً وَاضِعًا يَدَهُ عَلَى شَقِّ رَأْسِهِ فَقَالَ لَوْلَا أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَى أُمَّتِي لَأَمَرْتُهُمْ أَنْ يُصَلُّوهَا كَذَلِكَ قَالَ فَاسْتَثْبَتُّ عَطَاءً كَيْفَ وَضَعَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ يَدَهُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ كَمَا أَنْبَأَهُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ فَبَدَّدَ لِي عَطَاءُ بَيْنَ أَصَابِعِهِ شَيْئًا مِنْ تَبْدِيدٍ ثُمَّ وَضَعَ أَطْرَافَ أَصَابِعِهِ عَلَى فِرْقِ الرَّأْسِ ثُمَّ ضَمَّهَا يُمِرُّهَا كَذَلِكَ عَلَى الرَّأْسِ حَتَّى مَسَّتْ إِبْهَامُهُ طَرَفَ الْأُذُنِ مِمَّا يَلِي الْوَجْهَ ثُمَّ عَلَى الصُّدْغِ وَنَاحِيَةِ اللِّحْيَةِ لَا يَقْصُرُ وَلَا يَبْطُشُ بِشَيْءٍ إِلَّا كَذَلِكَ قُلْتُ لِعَطَاءٍ كَمْ ذَلِكَ أَخَّرَهَا النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لَيْلَتَئِذٍ؟ قَالَ لَا أَدْرِي قَالَ عَطَاءٌ فَأَحَبُّ إِلِيَّ أَنْ تُصَلِّيَهَا إِمَامًا وَخِلْوًا مُؤْخِرَةً كَمَا صَلَّاهَا النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لَيْلَتَئِذٍ قَالَ فَإِنْ شَقَّ عَلَيْكَ ذَلِكَ خِلْوًا أَوْ عَلَى النَّاسِ فِي الْجَمَاعَةِ وَأَنْتَ إِمَامُهُمْ فَصَلِّهَا وَسْطَةً لَا مُعَجَّلَةً وَلَا مُؤْخِرَةً  

[Machine] About the night prayer, he did not leave until we slept then woke up, then slept again and woke up. He came to us and said, "No one from the people of the earth is waiting for this prayer except you."  

عَنِ الصَّلَاةِ لَيْلَةً فَلَمْ يَخْرُجْ حَتَّى رَقَدْنَا ثُمَّ اسْتَيْقَظْنَا ثُمَّ رَقَدْنَا ثُمَّ اسْتَيْقَظْنَا فَخَرَجَ عَلَيْنَا وَقَالَ لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْأَرْضِ يَنْتَظِرُ هَذِهِ الصَّلَاةَ غَيْرَكُمْ  

"We stayed in the Masjid one night waiting for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to pray 'Isha'. He came out to us when one-third of the night or more had passed, and he said when he came out: 'You are waiting for a prayer for which the followers of no other religion are waiting. Were it not that I would impose too much difficulty on my Ummah, I would have led them in prayer at this time.' Then he commanded the Mu'adhdhin to say the Iqamah and he prayed." (Using translation from Nasāʾī 537)   

مَكَثْنَا لَيْلَةً نَنْتَظِرُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ لِلْعِشَاءِ الْآخِرَةِ فَخَرَجَ عَلَيْنَا حِينَ ذَهَبَ ثُلُثُ اللَّيْلِ أَوْ بَعْدَهُ فَقَالَ حِينَ خَرَجَ إِنَّكُمْ تَنْتَظِرُونَ صَلَاةً مَا يَنْتَظِرُهَا أَهْلُ دِينٍ غَيْرُكُمْ وَلَوْلَا أَنْ يَثْقُلَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي لَصَلَّيْتُ بِهِمْ هَذِهِ السَّاعَةَ قَالَ ثُمَّ أَمَرَ الْمُؤَذِّنَ فَأَقَامَ ثُمَّ صَلَّى  

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stayed awake one night until most of the night had passed and even the people of the mosque had fallen asleep. Then he came out to them and prayed with them. He said, "It is the appropriate time for this prayer, but I refrained from it so as not to make it difficult for my ummah." This hadith is mentioned in the narration of 'Abd al-Razzaq and in the narration of Haggag from 'Aisha, the mother of the believers. She said, "He did not specifically mention the night prayer, but it is implied."  

أَعْتَمَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ ذَاتَ لَيْلَةٍ بِالْعَشَاءِ حَتَّى ذَهَبَ عَامَّةُ اللَّيْلِ وَحَتَّى نَامَ أَهْلُ الْمَسْجِدِ قَالَتْ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ إِلَيْهِمْ فَصَلَّى بِهِمْ وَقَالَ إِنَّهُ لَوَقْتُهَا لَوْلَا أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَى أُمَّتِي لَفْظُ حَدِيثِ عَبْدِ الرَّزَّاقِ وَفِي حَدِيثِ حَجَّاجٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ وَلَمْ يَقُلْ بِالْعَشَاءِ وَالْبَاقِي بِمَعْنَاهُ سَوَاءٌ  

My father and I went to Abi Barza Al-Aslami and my father said to him, "Tell us how Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to offer the compulsory congregational prayers." He said, "He used to pray the Zuhr prayer, which you call the first prayer, as the sun declined at noon, the ʿAsr at a time when one of US could go to his family at the farthest place in Medina while the sun was still hot. (The narrator forgot what Abu Barza had said about the Maghrib prayer), and the Prophet ﷺ preferred to pray the ʿIsha' late and disliked to sleep before it or talk after it. And he used to return after finishing the morning prayer at such a time when it was possible for one to recognize the person sitting by his side and he (the Prophet) used to recite 60 to 100 'Ayat' (verses) of the Qur'an in it." (Using translation from Bukhārī 599)   

حَدِّثْنَا كَيْفَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ يُصَلِّي الْمَكْتُوبَةَ؟ قَالَ كَانَ يُصَلِّي الْهَجِيرَ وَهِيَ الَّتِي تَدْعُونَهَا الْأُولَى حِينَ تَدْحَضُ الشَّمْسُ وَيُصَلِّي الْعَصْرَ ثُمَّ يَرْجِعُ أَحَدُنَا إِلَى أَهْلِهِ فِي أَقْصَى الْمَدِينَةِ وَالشَّمْسُ حَيَّةٌ وَنَسِيتُ مَا قَالَ فِي الْمَغْرِبِ قَالَ وَكَانَ يَسْتَحِبُّ أَنْ يُؤَخِّرَ الْعِشَاءَ قَالَ وَكَانَ يَكْرَهُ النَّوْمَ قَبْلَهَا وَالْحَدِيثَ بَعْدَهَا قَالَ وَكَانَ يَنْفَتِلُ مِنْ صَلَاةِ الْغَدَاةِ حِينَ يَعْرِفُ أَحَدُنَا جَلِيسَهُ وَيَقْرَأُ مِنَ السِّتِّينَ إِلَى الْمِائَةِ  

[Machine] The Prophet ﷺ used to delay the prayer of the last night (Isha)  

كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ يُؤَخِّرُ صَلَاةَ الْعِشَاءِ الْآخِرَةِ  

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delayed the prayer of the last Isha until near the middle of the night, then he came out and led them in prayer. He said, "You will continue to pray as long as you wait for it, if it were not for the hardship on the old and the weakness of the weak." He said, "I thought that the one with need would delay this prayer until the middle of the night, and so it is."  

أَخَّرَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ صَلَاةَ الْعِشَاءِ الْآخِرَةِ إِلَى قَرِيبٍ مِنْ شَطْرِ اللَّيْلِ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ فَصَلَّى بِهِمْ وَقَالَ إِنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَزَالُوا فِي صَلَاةٍ مَا انْتَظَرْتُمُوهَا وَلَوْلَا كِبَرُ الْكَبِيرِ وَضَعْفُ الضَّعِيفِ قَالَ وَأَحْسِبُهُ قَالَ وَذُو الْحَاجَةِ لَأَخَّرْتُ هَذِهِ الصَّلَاةَ إِلَى شَطْرِ اللَّيْلِ وَكَذَلِكَ  

[Machine] We stayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for the night prayer until he delayed it to the extent that people thought he had already prayed or that he would not come out. Then he came out and someone said to him, "O Prophet of Allah, we thought that you had already prayed or that you would not come out." The Prophet ﷺ said to us, "Perform this prayer. Indeed, you have been favored with it over the other nations, and no previous nation has performed it."  

بَقِيَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لِصَلَاةِ الْعَتَمَةِ لَيْلَةً فَتَأَخَّرَ بِهَا حَتَّى ظَنَّ الظَّانُّ أَنْ قَدْ صَلَّى أَوْ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ خَرَجَ بَعْدُ فَقَالَ لَهُ قَائِلٌ يَا نَبِيَّ اللهِ لَقَدْ ظَنَنَّا أَنَّكَ قَدْ صَلَّيْتَ يَا نَبِيَّ اللهِ أَوْ لَسْتَ بِخَارِجٍ فَقَالَ لَنَا النَّبِيُّ ﷺ أَعْتِمُوا بِهَذِهِ الصَّلَاةِ فَإِنَّكُمْ قَدْ فُضِّلْتُمْ بِهَا عَلَى سَائِرِ الْأُمَمِ وَلَمْ يُصَلِّهَا أُمَّةٌ قَبْلَكُمْ  

[Machine] Ibn Abbas heard that delaying Isha prayer is recommended and recited {and a portion of the night} [Hud 114].  

سَمِعَ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ يُسْتَحَبُّ تَأْخِيرَ الْعِشَاءِ وَيَقْرَأُ {وَزُلَفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ} [هود 114]