This was the prophet ﷺ’s night prayer!

Aisha رضي الله عنها tells us one night the Prophet ﷺ recited one ayah again and again and again and again the entire night.

Imagine — Aisha comes in at 8, and imagine Fajr is at 5, and imagine for 8 hours — 8 hours — he stood reciting one ayah. I challenge you to try it for 20 minutes. You will get bored.

What kind of a person does he need to be to enjoy one ayah for 8 hours? What does it take to taste the verses fresh again and again? And more interestingly — what was the verse that he was reciting?

He recited this verse:

"Oh Allah, if you punish them, they are Your slaves — You can do so. But oh Allah, if You forgive them, then You are the Mighty and You are the Authority."

This ayah he recited it again and again and again all night. Why? Because of the impact it had.

Quality Over Quantity

Clearly, for him the night prayer was not about quantity — it was about the quality. Clearly it was about the contemplation. It was not about the race to finish. He tasted these verses, and he would make du'a between verses.

When he would stop at a verse that described Paradise, he would pause and say:

"Oh Allah, make us of the people of Paradise."

And when he would recite a verse of Hellfire, he would pause and say:

"Oh Allah, protect me from the Hellfire."

The Sign of a Prophetic Prayer

The sign of a prophetic prayer is not how much you recited, but how much you stopped.

It's not about how much you recited, but how little you recited.

It's not about how quick the rak'ah was, but how slow it was.

It is not about the length of your thawb — but how far your tears dripped onto the carpet.