The Prophet ﷺ used to pray on a small prayer mat. He said, "Ayesha, take this mat of yours away from us, for I fear it may become a source of distraction for people."
أن النبي ﷺ كان يصلي على خمرة، فقال: يا عائشة ارفعي عنا حصيرك هذا، فقد خشيت أن يكون يفتن الناس.
Imam Ahmad narrated it (26111) from Uthman bin Umar, who said, "Yunus narrated to us, from Zuhri, from Urwa, from Ayesha," and he related it as mentioned.Ibn Khuzayma also narrated it in his Sahih (1011) from Fadl bin Sahl, who said, "Uthman bin Umar narrated it to us," with the same wording.Haythami said in Majma (2/56), "Ahmad narrated it, and its narrators are the narrators of Sahih."Regarding his saying, "Lift your mat away from me," Sindi said, "He means the small prayer mat, as in one version." And the meaning of "it tempts people" is that they would come to believe that praying on the small mat is a sunnah if he persisted and he ﷺ praying on it, so he gave up continuing to do so out of fear of that.And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.