English translation
571. Narrated Ibn ‘Abbās رضي الله عنهما: Once Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ delayed the ‘Ishā’ prayer to such an extent that the people slept and got up and slept again and got up again. Then ‘Umar bin Al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه stood up and reminded the Prophet ﷺ of the prayer. ‘Aṭā’ said, ‘Ibn ‘Abbās said: “The Prophet ﷺ came out as if I am 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 offer Ṣalāt (prayer) (‘Ishā’ prayer) at this time.’ I asked ‘Aṭā’ for further information, how the Prophet ﷺ had kept his hand on his head as he was told by Ibn 'Abbās. 'Aṭā' 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 face at the temple and towards the beard. 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 offer Ṣalāt at this time.'
