ʿAisha said, "Once Messenger of Allah ﷺ delayed the ʿIsha' prayer till ʿUmar reminded him by saying, "The prayer!" The women and children have slept. Then the Prophet ﷺ came out and said, 'None amongst the dwellers of the earth has been waiting for it (the prayer) except you." ʿUrwa said, "Nowhere except in Medina the prayer used to be offered (in those days)." He further said, "The Prophet ﷺ used to offer the ʿIsha' prayer in the period between the disappearance of the twilight and the end of the first third of the night."  

أَعْتَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بِالْعِشَاءِ حَتَّى نَادَاهُ عُمَرُ الصَّلاَةَ نَامَ النِّسَاءُ وَالصِّبْيَانُ فَخَرَجَ فَقَالَ مَا يَنْتَظِرُهَا أَحَدٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ غَيْرُكُمْ قَالَ وَلاَ يُصَلَّى يَوْمَئِذٍ إِلاَّ بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانُوا يُصَلُّونَ فِيمَا بَيْنَ أَنْ يَغِيبَ الشَّفَقُ إِلَى ثُلُثِ اللَّيْلِ الأَوَّلِ  

ʿAbdullah bin ʿUmar said, "Once Messenger of Allah ﷺ was busy (at the time of the ʿIsha'), so the prayer was delayed so much so that we slept and woke up and slept and woke up again. The Prophet ﷺ came out and said, 'None amongst the dwellers of the earth but you have been waiting for the prayer." Ibn ʿUmar did not find any harm in praying it earlier or in delaying it unless he was afraid that sleep might overwhelm him and he might miss the prayer, and sometimes he used to sleep before the ʿIsha' prayer. Ibn Juraij said, "I said to ʿAta', 'I heard Ibn ʿAbbas saying: Once Messenger of Allah ﷺ delayed the ʿIsha' prayer to such an extent that the people slept and got up and slept again and got up again. Then ʿUmar bin Al-Khattab I, stood up and reminded the Prophet ﷺ I of the prayer.' ʿAta' said, 'Ibn ʿAbbas said: The Prophet came out as if I was looking at him at this time, and water was trickling from his head and he was putting his hand on his head and then said, 'Hadn't I thought it hard for my followers, I would have ordered them to pray (ʿIsha' prayer) at this time.' I asked ʿAta' for further information, how the Prophet had kept his hand on his head as he was told by Ibn ʿAbbas. ʿAta' separated his fingers slightly and put their tips on the side of the head, brought the fingers downwards approximating them till the thumb touched the lobe of the ear at the side of the temple and the beard on the face. He neither slowed nor hurried in this action but he acted like that. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Hadn't I thought it hard for my followers I would have ordered them to pray at this time."  

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ شُغِلَ عَنْهَا لَيْلَةً فَأَخَّرَهَا حَتَّى رَقَدْنَا فِي الْمَسْجِدِ ثُمَّ اسْتَيْقَظْنَا ثُمَّ رَقَدْنَا ثُمَّ اسْتَيْقَظْنَا ثُمَّ خَرَجَ عَلَيْنَا النَّبِيُّ ﷺ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ يَنْتَظِرُ الصَّلاَةَ غَيْرُكُمْ وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ لاَ يُبَالِي أَقَدَّمَهَا أَمْ أَخَّرَهَا إِذَا كَانَ لاَ يَخْشَى أَنْ يَغْلِبَهُ النَّوْمُ عَنْ وَقْتِهَا وَكَانَ يَرْقُدُ قَبْلَهَا قَالَ ابْنُ جُرَيْجٍ قُلْتُ لِعَطَاءٍ وَقَالَ سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ يَقُولُ أَعْتَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ لَيْلَةً بِالْعِشَاءِ حَتَّى رَقَدَ النَّاسُ وَاسْتَيْقَظُوا وَرَقَدُوا وَاسْتَيْقَظُوا فَقَامَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ فَقَالَ الصَّلاَةَ قَالَ عَطَاءٌ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ فَخَرَجَ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَأَنِّي أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ الآنَ يَقْطُرُ رَأْسُهُ مَاءً وَاضِعًا يَدَهُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ فَقَالَ لَوْلاَ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَى أُمَّتِي لأَمَرْتُهُمْ أَنْ يُصَلُّوهَا هَكَذَا فَاسْتَثْبَتُّ عَطَاءً كَيْفَ وَضَعَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ يَدَهُ كَمَا أَنْبَأَهُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ فَبَدَّدَ لِي عَطَاءٌ بَيْنَ أَصَابِعِهِ شَيْئًا مِنْ تَبْدِيدٍ ثُمَّ وَضَعَ أَطْرَافَ أَصَابِعِهِ عَلَى قَرْنِ الرَّأْسِ ثُمَّ ضَمَّهَا يُمِرُّهَا كَذَلِكَ عَلَى الرَّأْسِ حَتَّى مَسَّتْ إِبْهَامُهُ طَرَفَ الأُذُنِ مِمَّا يَلِي الْوَجْهَ عَلَى الصُّدْغِ وَنَاحِيَةِ اللِّحْيَةِ لاَ يُقَصِّرُ وَلاَ يَبْطُشُ إِلاَّ كَذَلِكَ وَقَالَ لَوْلاَ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَى أُمَّتِي لأَمَرْتُهُمْ أَنْ يُصَلُّوا هَكَذَا