al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ (d. 187) said, “It was said: from the characteristics of the Prophets, the pure ones, and the chosen ones whose hearts are pure were three qualities: forbearance, deliberateness, and a share of the night prayer.” [Ḥilyah (8: 95)].

Whenever ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar (d. 74) would wake up at night, he would pray [Ḥilyah (1: 304)].

ʿĀṣim b. Bahdalah (d. 127) said, “I reached a people who used to take this night as a provision, from them was Zirr b. Ḥubaysh (d. 83).”

Abū al-Zinād (d. 130) said, “I used to go out from the pre-dawn meal to the masjid of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ, and I would not pass by a single house except there was someone reciting in it.”

ʿAmr b. Qays said, “I never raised my head up at night except that I saw Mūsá b. Abī ʿĀʾishah standing in prayer.”

Thābit al-Bunānī (d. 127) said, “There is nothing I find in my heart, more delightful to me, than praying at night.”

Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161) said, “Indeed I rejoice at the night when it comes”, and this was because of his great love for the night prayer.

ʿAmr b. Khālid al-Khuzāʿī (d. 229) said, “Hārūn b. Riʾāb al-Usayyidī used to stand the night in tahajjud, and when he would get up for tahajjud he would do so happily.”

al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110) was asked why those who prayed tahajjud had the most beautiful of faces. He replied, “Because they secluded themselves with the light of the Most Merciful in the darkness, so He covered them with a light from His light.”

Ibrāhīm, the son of Wakīʿ, said, “My father used to pray (the night prayer), so there would not remain anyone in our house except that he would pray, even a black slave-girl of ours.”

Ṣafwān b. Sulaym (d. 132) used to pray in his house during the summer, and when it would be winter, he would pray on the roof so as not to fall asleep.

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Abī Rawwād (d. 159) said, “When al-Mughīrah b. Ḥakīm al-Ṣanʿānī (d. 111/120) wanted to pray tahajjud, he would wear his best clothes and apply some perfume of his family – and he was from those who prayed tahajjud.”

The wife of Masrūq used to say, “By Allāh, Masrūq (d. 63) never woke up on a night except that his legs were swollen from standing (in prayer), and I used to sit behind him crying out of mercy for him, and when the night would become long for him and he would tire, he would pray sitting.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127) said, “Masrūq (d. 63) performed Ḥajj and did not sleep except whilst prostrating.”

ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Mulaykah (d. 117) said, “I travelled with Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68) from al-Madīnah to Makkah; he used to pray half of the night.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127) said, “My health has deteriorated, I have become frail, and my bones have become brittle, and today I stand in prayer and only recite al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān.”

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAlī b. Ḥamshādh said, “I do not know my father to have ever left out the night prayer.”

Qatādah (d. 118) said, “It used to be said, ‘Seldom does the hypocrite spend the night awake (in prayer).’”

al-Ḍaḥḥāk (c. 102) said, “I reached a people who felt ashamed before Allāh, with respect to the night, from sleeping a long time.”

One of the scholars used to pray before dawn but he slept through some nights. He saw a dream in which two men stood over him and one said to the other, “This man used to be amongst those who sought forgiveness before dawn.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127) used to say, “O gathering of young men, take advantage of your youth, rarely does a night pass me by except that I recite a thousand verses in it.”

Ibrāhīm b. Shammās (d. 220/221) said, “I knew Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (d. 241) when he was a young boy and he would spend the night awake (in prayer).”

Muʿāwiyah b. Qurrah (d. 113) said, “We were with al-Ḥasan (d. 110) and we were discussing which deed was the best. They all agreed upon night prayer. I said, “Abandoning the prohibited.” al-Ḥasan noticed this and said, “The matter is settled, the matter is settled.” [Ḥilyah (2: 299)].

Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131) would pray the whole night and conceal that, and then at dawn he would raise his voice as if he had just woken up at that hour. [Ḥilyah (3: 8)].

Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110) said, “Through night prayer the lowly are honoured and the contemptible are exalted; and through the fasting of the day, the desires of a person are cut off; and there is no rest for the believer without entry into Paradise.”

Sources:

Min Akhbār al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ by Abū Yaḥyá Zakariyyā b. Ghulām Qādir, pp. 92-97.

al-Tahdhīb al-Mawḍūʿī li Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ li Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Aṣbahānī, prepared by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṣāliḥ al-Habdān, pp. 664-669.

A related article: The Salaf and the Qur’an