We were traveling with the Prophet ﷺ one night when some of the people said, "Messenger of Allah, if only you would halt with us for rest."He replied, "I fear you will sleep through the prayer."Bilal said, "I will wake you."So they lay down, and Bilal rested his back against his mount, but his eyes overcame him and he fell asleep. The Prophet ﷺ woke up when the upper rim of the sun had already risen, and he said, "Bilal, what happened to what you promised?"Bilal answered, "Never has a sleep like that overtaken me before."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah took your souls when He willed, and returned them to you when He willed. Bilal, get up and call the people to prayer."Bilal performed ablution, and when the sun had risen high and become bright, he stood and prayed.
سرنا مع النبي ﷺ ليلة، فقال بعض القوم: لو عرست بنا يا رسول الله، قال: أخاف أن تناموا عن الصلاة، قال بلال: أنا أوقظكم، فاضطجعوا وأسند بلال ظهره إلى راحلته، فغلبته عيناه فنام فاستيقظ النبي ﷺ وقد طلع حاجب الشمس، فقال: يا بلال أين ما قلت؟ قال: ما ألقيت علي نومة مثلها قط. قال: إن الله قبض أرواحكم حين شاء، وردها عليكم حين شاء، يا بلال قم فأذن بالناس بالصلاة فتوضأ، فلما ارتفعت الشمس وابياضت قام فصلى.
Bukhari included it in the Book of Prayer Times (595), where he titled the chapter, "The adhan after the time [for prayer] has passed," and this is his exact wording. Muslim included it in the Book of Masjids (681) in more detail, where it states, "Then Bilal called the adhan for prayer, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed two units of prayer, then he prayed the dawn prayer, doing as he did every day." Both narrations come through various chains from Abu Qatada.His statement, "he did as he did every day," might be understood to include the call to begin the prayer, since it was not mentioned in the hadith.In the hadith of Imran bin Husayn, which will come later, there is an explicit mention of the call to begin the prayer, for he was among the group of riders that night, as indicated by Muslim's narration, which states,Abdullah bin Rabah said, "I was narrating this hadith in the congregational masjid, when Imran bin Husayn said, 'Look, young man, how you are narrating, for I was one of the riders that night.' I said, 'Then you know the hadith better than I do.' He asked, 'Where are you from?' I said, 'From the Ansar.' He said, 'Narrate, for you know your own hadith best.' So I narrated it to the people, and Imran said, 'I was indeed present that night, and I never thought anyone had memorized it as well as I did.'"End of quote.His statement, "hafizhtuhu," with the ta vocalized with damma or with fatha, both readings are correct.Whoever does not hold that the adhan is given for a missed prayer, and instead interprets the adhan here as the call to begin the prayer, is far-fetched, because after the adhan the Prophet ﷺ performed ablution, and when the sun had risen and turned white, he stood and prayed. It was never known that he performed ablution on any day after the call to begin the prayer.