حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، حَدَّثَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ الْمُفَضَّلِ، حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ أَبِي هِنْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ صَلَّيْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم صَلاَةَ الْعَتَمَةِ فَلَمْ يَخْرُجْ حَتَّى مَضَى نَحْوٌ مِنْ شَطْرِ اللَّيْلِ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ خُذُوا مَقَاعِدَكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَأَخَذْنَا مَقَاعِدَنَا فَقَالَ ‏"‏إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ صَلَّوْا وَأَخَذُوا مَضَاجِعَهُمْ وَإِنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَزَالُوا فِي صَلاَةٍ مَا انْتَظَرْتُمُ الصَّلاَةَ وَلَوْلاَ ضَعْفُ الضَّعِيفِ وَسَقَمُ السَّقِيمِ لأَخَّرْتُ هَذِهِ الصَّلاَةَ إِلَى شَطْرِ اللَّيْلِ ‏"

Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri

We prayed the night prayer (al-atamah) with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he did not come out until about half of the night had passed. He said, "Take your places." So we took our places, and he said, "The people have indeed prayed and taken to their beds, and you will remain in prayer as long as you wait for the prayer. Were it not for the weakness of the weak and the sickness of the sick, I would have delayed this prayer until half of the night."