(212) Chapter: Excellence of Standing in Prayer at Night

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not observe more than eleven Rak'ah (of Tahajjud prayers), be in Ramadan or any other month. First of all he would perform four Rak'ah. Ask not about their excellence and their length. He (ﷺ) would then perform four more Rak'ah; and do not ask about their excellence and their length. Then he would perform three Rak'ah (Witr prayer). ('Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) added) I submitted: "O Messenger of Allah! Do you sleep before performing the Witr prayer?" He (ﷺ) said, "O 'Aishah! My eyes sleep but my heart does not sleep."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary:
1. "My heart does not sleep'' signifies that "usually I am not so overwhelmed by sleep that I miss the Salat''. Some people give a different interpretation of this by saying that his Wudu' remained intact as his heart was awake. This is one of the attributes of the Prophet (PBUH). This Hadith stresses on performing Salat with full decorum and concentration because this is the way the Prophet (PBUH) did it. The real beauty of Salat lies in performing it in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) and with full peace of mind.

2. If one is confident of getting up in the later part of the night, one can perform Witr after Tahajjud prayer; but if one is not sure of getting up at the time of Tahajjud then it is better to perform Witr after `Isha' prayer.