One of the Companions of the Prophet (may peace be upon), came upon us in Egypt. When he was narrating traditions in the Mosque of Egypt, I heard him say: I was the seventh or the sixth person in the company of the Messenger of Allah ( peace be upon him) in the house of a person.

In the meantime Bilal came and called him for prayer. He came out and passed by a person who had his fire-pan on the fire. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to him: Has the food in the fire-pan been cooked? He replied: Yes, my parents be sacrificed upon you. He then took a piece out of it and continued to chew it until he uttered the first takbir (AllahuAkbar) of the prayer. All this time I was looking at him.

Malik related to me from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqama from his father from Bilal ibn al-Harith al-Muzani that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A man speaks what is pleasing to Allah and he does not suspect that it will have the result that it does, and Allah will write for him His good pleasure for it until the day when he meets Him. And a man speaks what excites the wrath of Allah and he does not suspect that it will have the result that it does, and Allah will write His wrath for him for it until the day when he meets Him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zubayr al-Makki from Ata ibn Abi Rabah that Abdullah ibn Abbas was asked about a man who had had intercourse with his wife while at Mina before he had done the tawaf al-ifada, and he told him to sacrifice an animal.

One night I slept at the house of Maimuna. The Prophet woke up, answered the call of nature, washed his face and hands, and then slept. He got up (late at night), went to a water skin, opened the mouth thereof and performed ablution not using much water, yet he washed all the parts properly and then offered the prayer. I got up and straightened my back in order that the Prophet might not feel that I was watching him, and then I performed the ablution, and when he got up to offer the prayer, I stood on his left. He caught hold of my ear and brought me over to his right side. He offered thirteen rak`at in all and then lay down and slept till he started blowing out his breath as he used to do when he slept. In the meantime Bilal informed the Prophet of the approaching time for the (Fajr) prayer, and the Prophet offered the Fajr (Morning) prayer without performing new ablution. He used to say in his invocation, Allahumma ij`al fi qalbi nuran wa fi basari nuran, wa fi sam`i nuran, wa`an yamini nuran, wa`an yasari nuran, wa fawqi nuran, wa tahti nuran, wa amami nuran, wa khalfi nuran, waj`al li nuran." Kuraib (a sub narrator) said, "I have forgotten seven other words, (which the Prophet mentioned in this invocation). I met a man from the offspring of Al-`Abbas and he narrated those seven things to me, mentioning, '(Let there be light in) my nerves, my flesh, my blood, my hair and my body,' and he also mentioned two other things."

Urwah ibn az-Zubayr reported on the authority of a woman from Banu an-Najjar. She said: My house was the loftiest of all the houses around the mosque (of the Prophet at Medina). Bilal used to make a call to the morning prayer from it. He would come there before the break of dawn and wait for it. When he saw it, he would yawn and say: O Allah, I praise you and seek Your assistance for the Quraysh so that they might establish Thine religion. He then would make the call to prayer.

She (the narrator) said: By Allah, I do not know whether he ever left saying these words on any night.

When the illness of the Messenger of Allah (saws) became serious while I was with him among a group of people, Bilal called him for prayer. He said: Ask someone to lead the people in prayer. So Abdullah ibn Zam'ah went out and found that Umar was present among the people and AbuBakr was not there. I said: Umar, get up and lead the people in prayer. So he came forward and uttered "Allah is Most Great". When the Messenger of Allah (saws) heard his voice, as Umar had a loud voice, he said: Where is AbuBakr? Allah does not allow that, and the Muslims too; Allah does not allow that, and the Muslims too. So he sent for AbuBakr. He came after Umar had led the people in that prayer. He then led the people in prayer.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by Malik, Sufyan b. 'Uyainah, al-Awza'i, and 'Abd al-Razzaq from Ma'mar and Ibn Ishaq, none of them made a mention of the call for prayer (adman) in this version of the tradition narrated by al-Zuhri, and none of them attribute (this tradition) to him except al-Awza'i and Aban al-'Attar on the authority of Ma'mar.

When Allah's Apostle became seriously ill, Bilal came to him for the prayer. He said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in the prayer." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Abu Bakr is a softhearted man and if he stands in your place, he would not be able to make the people hear him. Will you order `Umar (to lead the prayer)?" The Prophet said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in the prayer." Then I said to Hafsa, "Tell him, Abu i Bakr is a softhearted man and if he stands in his place, he would not be able to make the people hear him. Would you order `Umar to lead the prayer?' " Hafsa did so. The Prophet said, "Verily you are the companions of Joseph. Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in the prayer." So Abu- Bakr stood for the prayer. In the meantime Allah's Apostle felt better and came out with the help of two persons and both of his legs were dragging on the ground till he entered the mosque. When Abu Bakr heard him coming, he tried to retreat but Allah's Apostle beckoned him to carry on. The Prophet sat on his left side. Abu Bakr was praying while standing and Allah's Apostle was leading the prayer while sitting. Abu Bakr was following the Prophet and the people were following Abu Bakr (in the prayer).

We witnessed along with Allah's Apostle the Khaibar (campaign). Allah's Apostle told his companions about a man who claimed to be a Muslim, "This man is from the people of the Fire." When the battle started, the man fought very bravely and received a great number of wounds and got crippled. On that, a man from among the companions of the Prophet came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do you know what the man you described as of the people of the Fire has done? He has fought very bravely for Allah's Cause and he has received many wounds." The Prophet said, "But he is indeed one of the people of the Fire." Some of the Muslims were about to have some doubt about that statement. So while the man was in that state, the pain caused by the wounds troubled him so much that he put his hand into his quiver and took out an arrow and committed suicide with it. Off went some men from among the Muslims to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allah has made your statement true. So-and-so has committed suicide." Allah's Apostle said, "O Bilal! Get up and announce in public: None will enter Paradise but a believer, and Allah may support this religion (Islam) with a wicked man."

He then made a call to prayer. When he reached the words “ come to prayer, come to salvation”. He turned his neck right and left, respectively; he did not turn himself (with his whole body). He then entered (his house) and came out with a lancet. The narrator then reported the rest of the tradition.

One night I became the guest of the Prophet (saws). He ordered that a piece of mutton be roasted, and it was roasted. He then took a knife and began to cut the meat with it for me. In the meantime Bilal came and called him for prayer. He threw the knife and said: What happened! may his hands be smeared with earth! He then stood for offering prayer. Al-Anbari added: My moustaches became lengthy. He trimmed them by placing a took-stick; or he said: I shall trim your moustaches by placing the tooth-stick there.

Al-Anbari said: My moustaches became lengthy. He trimmed them by placing a tooth-stick ; or he said: I shall trim your moustaches by placing the tooth-stick there.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Rabah and Ubaydullah ibn Abi Abdullah Salman al-Agharr from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers in any other mosque, except the Masjid al-Haram (in Makka)."