Abu Musa said, "My companions who arrived with me on the ship and I were staying at Baqi Buthan, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in Madinah. Each night, a group of them would take turns attending the night prayer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."Abu Musa continued, "My companions and I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at a time when he was occupied with some matter, so he delayed the prayer until the night was well advanced. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out and led them in prayer. When he finished his prayer, he said to those present, 'Stay where you are. Let me give you some news, and rejoice. Among Allah's blessings upon you is that there is no one among the people praying at this hour besides you,' or he said, 'No one has prayed at this hour except you.' We are not sure which of the two phrases he used."Abu Musa said, "We returned rejoicing at what we had heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
كنت أنا وأصحابي الذين قدموا معي في السفينة نزولا في بقيع بطحان، ورسول الله ﷺ بالمدينة، فكان يتناوب رسول الله ﷺ عند صلاة العشاء كل ليلة نفر منهم، قال أبو موسي: فوافقنا رسول الله ﷺ أنا وأصحابي، وله بعض الشغل في أمره، حتى أعتم بالصلاة حتى ابهار الليل، ثم خرج رسول الله ﷺ فصلى بهم، فلما قضى صلاته قال لمن حضره: على رسلكم أعلمكم، وأبشروا، أن من نعمة الله عليكم أنه ليس من الناس أحد يصلي هذه اعة غيركم أو قال: ما صلى هذه الساعة أحد غيركم- لا ندري أي الكلمتين قال. قال أبو موسى: فرجعنا فرحين بما سمعنا من رسول الله ﷺ.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Prayer Times (567), and Muslim in the Book of Mosques (641), both from Abu Usama, from Buraid, from Abu Burda, from Abu Musa, who related the hadith.His saying, "Baqi Bathan" - Baqi refers to a stretch of open land. Ibn Athir said, it is not called a baqi unless it contains trees or their roots. Bathan is a specific place, a valley in Madinah.His saying, "yatanawabu" (they take turns) - its subject is "a group of men," meaning several men would come to him each night in rotation, not gathered together all at once.His saying, "ibhar al-layl" means the night had reached its midpoint, since the "bahra" of anything is its middle. This meaning is supported by what appears in some other versions, "until it was close to the middle of the night."The task mentioned was the preparation of an army. Tabari narrated this through a sahih route from Amash, from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir. Ibn Hajar mentioned it in Fath al-Bari (2/48).