Sunan Ibn Majah — The Book of the Prayer — Hadith No: 693
حَدَّثَنَا عِمْرَانُ بْنُ مُوسَى اللَّيْثِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَارِثِ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ أَبِي هِنْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ صَلَّى بِنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ صَلاَةَ الْمَغْرِبِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ حَتَّى ذَهَبَ شَطْرُ اللَّيْلِ فَخَرَجَ فَصَلَّى بِهِمْ ثُمَّ قَالَ " إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ صَلَّوْا وَنَامُوا وَأَنْتُمْ لَمْ تَزَالُوا فِي صَلاَةٍ مَا انْتَظَرْتُمُ الصَّلاَةَ وَلَوْلاَ الضَّعِيفُ وَالسَّقِيمُ أَحْبَبْتُ أَنْ أُؤَخِّرَ هَذِهِ الصَّلاَةَ إِلَى شَطْرِ اللَّيْلِ " .
Translation
It was narrated that Abu Sa'eed said:"The Messenger of Allah led us for the Maghrib prayer. Then he did not come out until half the night had passed. Then he came out and led them in prayer, then he said: "The people have prayed and gone to sleep, but you are still in a state of prayer so long as you are waiting for the (next) prayer. Were it not for the weak and the sick, I wanted to delay this prayer until the middle of the night