I was told that God’s Messenger had said, “Prayer engaged in by a man while sitting counts as half the prayer,” so I went to him and I found him praying while sitting, and I put my hand on his head. He said, “What is the matter with you, ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr? ’’ I replied, “I have been told, Messenger of God, that you said that prayer engaged in by a man while sitting counts as half the prayer, yet you yourself are praying while sitting.” He said, “Yes, but I am not like one of you.”
Narrated ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud reported God’s Messenger as saying:
Our Lord is pleased with two men. One is a man who gets up from his blanket and his covering from among his beloved and his family to engage in prayer. God says to His angels, “Look at my servant who has got up from his bedding and his blanket from among his beloved and his family to engage in his prayer out of desire for what is with me and fear of what is with me.” The other is a man who goes out on an expedition in God’s path and is routed along with his companions, but who, knowing what responsibility will rest upon him for being routed and what reward he will receive for going back, returns with the result that his blood is spilt. God says to His angels, “Look at my servant who returned out of desire for what is with me and fear of what is with me with the result that his blood was spilt.”
Salim b. Abul Ja'd told of a man of Khuza'a saying, “I wish I had prayed and been at rest.” When the people seemed to disapprove of his saying that, he replied that he had heard God’s Messenger say, “Declare that the time for prayer has come, Bilal, and give us rest by it.”*
* This probably means that prayer brings peace of mind.
Abu Umama told of his hearing God’s Messenger say, “If anyone goes to bed in a state of purity and makes mention of God till drowsiness overtakes him, he will not turn round at any time during the night and ask God at that time for some of the good of this world and the next without His giving it to him.”
Nawawi mentioned it in Kitab al-adhkar by the transmission of Ibn as-Sunni.
