Saad bin Hisham reported,

Saad bin Hisham wanted to go out to fight in the cause of Allah, so he came to Madinah intending to sell some property he owned there and use the proceeds to buy weapons and horses, then fight the Romans until he died. When he arrived in Madinah, he met some of its people who told him not to do that. They informed him that a group of six men had wanted to do the same during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had forbidden them, saying, "Do you not have an example in me?"When they told him this, he took back his wife, whom he had divorced, and called witnesses to attest to the reconciliation. Then he came to Ibn Abbas and asked him about the witr prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.Ibn Abbas said, "Shall I direct you to the person on earth who knows most about the witr of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?"Saad asked, "Who?"Ibn Abbas replied, "Ayesha. Go to her and ask her, then come back and tell me what she answers you."So I set out and went to Hakeem bin Aflah and asked him to accompany me to her. He said, "I will not go near her, because I told her not to say anything about these two factions, but she refused to do anything but proceed with her stance regarding them."I insisted by oath, so he came along, and we went to Ayesha. We sought permission to enter, and she granted it, so we went in.She said, "Is that Hakeem?" recognizing him.He answered, "Yes."She asked, "Who is with you?"He said, "Saad bin Hisham."She asked, "Which Hisham?"He said, "The son of Amir."She invoked Allah's mercy on him and spoke well of him. Qatada said Amir had been killed on the day of Uhud.I said, "Mother of the Believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."She said, "Do you not read the Quran?"I said, "Yes."She said, "The character of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was the Quran."I was about to get up and not ask anyone about anything until I died, but then it occurred to me to ask further, so I said, "Tell me about the night prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."She said, "Do you not recite 'O you who wraps himself in garments' [Muzzammil 73:1]?"I said, "Yes."She said, "Allah made standing in prayer at night obligatory at the beginning of this surah, so the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and his companions stood in prayer for a year. Allah withheld the conclusion of it in heaven for twelve months, until Allah revealed the lightening at the end of this surah. Thus night prayer became voluntary after having been obligatory."I said, "Mother of the Believers, tell me about the witr of the Messenger of Allah."She said, "We used to prepare for him his toothstick and water for purification, and Allah would rouse him whenever He willed during the night. He would brush his teeth, perform ablution, and pray nine units, not sitting except in the eighth. He would remember Allah, praise Him, and supplicate, then rise without saying the salam. Then he would stand and pray the ninth unit, then sit, remember Allah, praise Him, and supplicate, then say the salam aloud so we could hear him. Then after the salam he would pray two more units while sitting. So that is eleven units, my son. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grew older and put on weight, he prayed witr with seven units, doing in the two units the same as he had done before. So that is nine, my son. Whenever the Prophet of Allah ﷺ performed a prayer, he loved to be constant in it. Whenever sleep or pain prevented him from the night prayer, he would pray twelve units during the day. I do not know the Prophet of Allah ﷺ to have ever recited the entire Quran in a single night, or to have prayed an entire night until morning, or to have fasted a complete month other than Ramadan."Then I went to Ibn Abbas and related to him her account.He said, "She has spoken the truth. If I were close to her, or able to visit her, I would have gone to her so she could tell me face to face."I said, "Had I known you would not visit her, I would not have related her account to you."In another narration he said, I went to Abdullah bin Abbas and asked him about the witr, and he carried the story through. In it she said, "Which Hisham?"I said, "The son of Amir."She said, "What an excellent man Amir was. He was killed on the day of Uhud."

عن سعد بن هشام بن عامر

أنه أراد أن يغزو في سبيل الله، فقدم المدينة، وأراد أن يبيع عقارا بها، فيجعله في السلاح والكراع، ويجاهد الروم حتى يموت، فلما قدم المدينة لقي أناسا من أهل المدينة، فنهوه عن ذلك، وأخبروه أن رهطا ستة أرادوا ذلك في حياة رسول الله ﷺ، فنهاهم رسول الله ﷺ، وقال: أليس لكم في أسوة؟ فلما حدثوه بذلك راجع امرأته- وقد كان طلقها-وأشهد على رجعتها فأتى ابن عباس، فسأله عن وثر رسول الله ﷺ؟ فقال ابن عباس: ألا أدلك على من هو أعلم أهل الأرض بوتر رسول الله ﷺ؟ قال: من؟ قال: عائشة فأتها فسلها، ثم اثتني فأخبرني بردها عليك. قال: فانطلقت إليها، فأتيت على حكيم بن أفلح، فاستلحقته إليها، فقال: ما أنا بقاربها، لأني نهيتها أن تقول في هاتين الشيعتين شيئا، فأبت فيهما إلا مضيا، قال: فأقسمت عليه فجاء، فأنطلقنا إلى عائشة، فاستأذنا عليها، فأذنت لنا، فدخلنا عليها، فقالت: حكيم؟ فعرفته، فقال: نعم، فقالت: من معك؟ قال: سعد بن هشام قالت: من هشام؟ قال: ابن عامر، فتر حمت عليه، وقالت خيرا- قال قتادة: وكان أصيب يوم أحد- فقلت: يا أم المؤمنين، أنبئيني عن خلق رسول الله ﷺ، قالت: ألست تقرأ القرآن؟ قلت: بلى قالت: فإن خلق نبي الله ﷺ كان القرآن قال: فهممت أن أقوم، ولا أسأل أحدا عن شيء حتى أموت، ثم بدا لي، فقلت: أنبئيني عن قيام رسول الله ﷺ فقالت: ألست تقرأ: {يأيها المزمل}؟ قلت: بلى. قالت: فإن الله عز وجل افترض القيام في أول هذه السورة، فقام نبي الله ﷺ وأصحابه حولا، وأمسك الله خاتمتها اثنى عشر شهرا [ في السماء]، حتى أنزل الله عز وجل في آخر هذه السورة التخفيف، فصار قيام الليل تطوعا بعد فريضة، قال: قلت: يا أم المؤمنين، أنبئيني عن وتر رسول الله، فقالت: كنا نعد له سواكه، وطهوره، فيبعثه الله متى شاء أو يبعثه من الليل، فيتسوك ويتوضأ، ويصلي تسع ركعات، لا يجلس فيها إلا في الثامنة، فيذكر الله ويحمده ويدعوه، ثم ينهض ولا يسلم، ثم يقوم فيصلي التاسعة، ثم يقعد فيذكر الله ويحمده ويدعوه، ثم يسلم تسليما يسمعنا، ثم يصلي ركعتين بعد ما يسلم وهو قاعد، فتلك إحدى عشرة ركعة يا بني، فلما أسن رسول الله ﷺ، وأخذه اللحم، أوتر بسبع، وصنع في الركعتين مثل صنيعه الأول، فتلك تسع يا بني، وكان نبي الله ﷺ إذا صلى صلاة أحب أن يداوم عليها، وكان إذا غلبه نوم أو وجع عن قيام الليل صلى من النهار ثنتي عشرة ركعة، ولا أعلم نبي الله ﷺ قرأ القرآن كله في ليلة، ولا صلى ليلة إلى الصبح، ولا صام شهرا كاملا غير شهر رمضان، قال: فانطلقت إلى ابن عباس فحدثته بحديثها، فقال: صدقت، ولو كنت أقربها، أو أدخل عليها، لأتيتها حتى تشافهني به، قال: قلت: لو علمت أنك لا تدخل عليها ما حدثتك حديثها وفي رواية قال: انطلقت إلى عبد الله بن عباس، فسألته عن الوتر؟ وساق الحديث بقصته- وقال فيه: قالت: من هشام؟ قلت: ابن عامر، قالت: نعم المرء كان عامر، أصيب يوم أحد.