Sunan Abi Dawud

Sunan Abi Dawud 421

Arabic hadith text

حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عُثْمَانَ الْحِمْصِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا حَرِيزٌ، عَنْ رَاشِدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ عَاصِمِ بْنِ حُمَيْدٍ السَّكُونِيِّ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ مُعَاذَ بْنَ جَبَلٍ، يَقُولُ ارْتَقَبْنَا النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي صَلاَةِ الْعَتَمَةِ فَأَخَّرَ حَتَّى ظَنَّ الظَّانُّ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ وَالْقَائِلُ مِنَّا يَقُولُ صَلَّى فَإِنَّا لَكَذَلِكَ حَتَّى خَرَجَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالُوا لَهُ كَمَا قَالُوا فَقَالَ لَهُمْ ‏"‏ أَعْتِمُوا بِهَذِهِ الصَّلاَةِ فَإِنَّكُمْ قَدْ فُضِّلْتُمْ بِهَا عَلَى سَائِرِ الأُمَمِ وَلَمْ تُصَلِّهَا أُمَّةٌ قَبْلَكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Translation

Muadh ibn Jabal said: We waited for the Prophet for the night prayer. He delayed until some thought he would not come out, while others among us said he had already prayed. While we were in that state, the Prophet came out. They said to him what they had been saying, and he replied: “Perform this prayer when it is dark; by it you have been favored over all other communities, for no community before you prayed it.”