We waited for the Prophet ﷺ for the evening prayer, but he delayed it so long that some of us thought he would not come out, while others among us were saying that he had already prayed. While we were in this state, the Prophet ﷺ came out, and they said to him what they had been saying.He told them, "Hold fast to this prayer, for through it you have been favored over all other nations. No nation before you has prayed it."
بقينا النبي ﷺ في صلاة العتمة فأخر حتى ظن الظان أنه ليس بخارج، والقائل منا يقول: صلى، فإنا لكذلك، حتى خرج النبي ﷺ فقالوا له كما قالوا: فقال لهم: أغتموا بهذه الصلاة، فإنكم قد فضلتم بها على سائر الأمم، ولم تصلها أمة قبلكم.
It was narrated by Abu Dawud (421), who said, Amr bin Uthman Himsi told us, my father told us, Hurayz -meaning Ibn Uthman- told us, from Rashid bin Saad, from Asim bin Humayd Sakuni, that he heard Muaz bin Jabal say, and then he mentioned the hadith.Its chain of transmission is sahih. As for Asim bin Humayd Sakuni, the companion of Muaz, Bazzar had doubts about whether he actually heard from Muaz, but the correct view is that he did hear from him. He was the Himsi mukhadram, from the highest generation of the successors among the people of Syria.The word ietam means entering into utmah, which is the darkness of the night. As for his statement, "baqina," it is pronounced with fatha on the ba and the qaf, following the pattern of "ramayna." Khattabi said, "Its meaning is, we waited, for one says baqaytu ar-rajul, abqihi, meaning I waited for him."