I came to Uqba bin Amir al-Juhani and said, "Shall I tell you something astonishing about Abu Tamim? He prays two cycles before the sunset prayer."Uqba replied, "We used to do that during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."I asked, "Then what prevents you from doing so now?"He answered, "Being preoccupied."
أتيت عقبة بن عامر الجهني، فقلت: ألا أعجبك من أبي تميم، يركع ركعتين قبل صلاة المغرب. فقال عقبة: إنا كنا نفعله على عهد رسول الله ﷺ، قلت: فما يمنعك الآن؟ قال: الشغل.
Bukhari narrated it in the chapter on tahajjud (1184), from Abdullah bin Yazid, who said, Saeed bin Abu Ayub narrated to us, who said, Yazid bin Abu Habib narrated to me, who said, I heard Marthad bin Abdullah mention it.The phrase "surprised you" (with the first letter having a damma and the jim doubled, from tajub, meaning astonishment) means, he informed you of something you would find strange and be amazed by.Abu Tamim is Abdullah bin Malik Jayshani, a major mukhadram tabii, who embraced Islam during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and recited the Quran under Muaz bin Jabal. He then came during the time of Umar, witnessed the conquest of Egypt, and settled there.The practice of Abu Tamim shows the continuity of this practice from the time of the Prophet ﷺ and the time of the companions and those after them. The condition for it is that the Maghrib prayer should not be delayed from the beginning of its time. And Anas's statement in the previous hadith, "there was nothing between the adhan and the iqamah," is evidence for this.