Two men set out on a journey. When the time for prayer came, they had no water with them, so they performed tayammum with clean earth and prayed. Then they found water while the time of prayer was still in. One of them repeated the ablution and the prayer, while the other did not.They later came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and mentioned what had happened. He said to the one who did not repeat the prayer, "You followed the Sunnah, and your prayer suffices you."To the one who performed ablution and repeated the prayer, he said, "For you is the reward twice over."
خرج رجلان في سفر، فحضرت الصلاة وليس معهما ماء، فتيمما صعيدا طيبا فصليا، ثم وجدا الماء في الوقت، فأعاد أحدهما الصلاة والوضوء، ولم يعد الآخر، ثم أتيا رسول الله ﷺ ذكرا ذلك له، فقال للذي لم يعد: أصبت السنة وأجزأت صلاتك. وقال للذي توضأ وأعاد: لك الأجر مرتين.
Abu Dawud (338) and Nasai (433) both narrated it, via Abdullah bin Nafi, from Layth bin Saad, from Bakr bin Sawada, from Ata bin Yasar, from Abu Saeed, who then related the hadith. Its chain is sahih, except that Abu Dawud said, "The mention of Abu Saeed in this hadith is not preserved, and it is mursal." He then narrated it, via Ibn Lahia, from Bakr bin Sawada, from Abu Abdullah the freed slave of Ismail bin Ubayd, from Ata bin Yasar, that two of the Prophet's ﷺ companions related something of the same meaning.However, the hadith has come through another route from Abu Saeed Khudri as a connected narration, which is what Abu Ali bin Sakan narrated, saying, Abu Bakr Muhammad bin Ahmad Wasiti told us, Abbas bin Muhammad told us, Abu Walid Tayalisi told us, Layth bin Saad told us, from Amr bin Harith and Umayra bin Abu Najiya, from Bakr bin Sawada, from Ata, from Abu Saeed, who then related the hadith, just as Ibn Qattan mentioned it in Wahm wal-Iham (2/434), and he graded it sahih.Nasai narrated it (433, 434) both as a connected narration and as a mursal narration. It appears from this that Ata bin Yasar used to narrate this hadith through two routes.The following can be drawn from this hadith, that one who performs tayammum is like one who performs proper ablution, praying at the beginning of the prayer time or afterward. If he finds water before the prayer time expires, the majority hold that he does not need to repeat the prayer, while Uzai recommended repeating it without making it obligatory.