Ibn ‘Abbas, on being asked whether he approved of the Commander of the Faithful, Mu'awiya, using only one rak'a in the witr, replied, “He is right; he is versed in the law.” In a version Ibn Abu Mulaika said that Mu'awiya observed a witr after the evening prayer with one rak'u when a client of Ibn ‘Abbas was with him. He went to Ibn ‘Abbas and told him, but he replied, “Leave him alone, for he was a companion of the Prophet.”
‘Ali said that the Prophet used to say at the end of his witr, “O God, I seek refuge in Thy good pleasure from Thine anger, and in Thy forgiveness from Thy punishment, and I seek refuge in Thy mercy from Thy wrath.* I cannot reckon the praise due to Thee. Thou art as Thou hast glorified Thyself.”
* Literally ‘in Thee from Thee’.
Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah transmitted it.
Buraida said he heard God’s Messenger say, “The witr is a duty, so he who does not observe it does not belong to us; the witr is a duty, so he who does not observe it does not belong to us; the witr is a duty, so he who does not observe it does not belong to us.”
Ubayy b. Ka'b said that when God’s Messenger gave the salutation in the witr he said, “Glory be to the King most holy.”
Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it, Nasa’i adding that he said it three times, prolonging the words. In a version by Nasa’i from ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. Abza from his father, he said that he used to say three times when he uttered that salutation, “Glory be to the King most holy”, raising his voice when saying it the third time.
