I asked Ibn Umar, "Tell me about the two units of prayer before the dawn prayer. Should I prolong the recitation in them?"He replied, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray during the night in pairs, and he would conclude with a single unit as witr."I said, "That is not what I am asking you about."He said, "You are dense! Will you not let me lay out the hadith for you? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray during the night in pairs, conclude with a single unit as witr, and pray two short units before the dawn prayer, as though the call to prayer were already in his ears."In another narration, he said, "Easy, easy! You are dense indeed."In another narration, the Messenger of Allah said, "The night prayer is in pairs. When you fear that dawn is about to overtake you, conclude with a single unit as witr."Ibn Umar was asked, "What is meant by 'in pairs'?"He replied, "That you give the closing salutation after every two units."
سألت ابن عمر، قلت: أرأيت الركعتين قبل صلاة الغداة أ أطيل فيهما القراءة؟ قال: كان رسول الله ﷺ يصلي من الليل مثنى مثنى، ويوتر بركعة. قال: قلت: إني لست عن هذا أسألك. قال: إنك لضخم. ألا تدعني استقرى لك الحديث؟ كان رسول الله ﷺ يصلي من الليل مثنى مثنى، ويوتر بركعة، ويصلي ركعتين قبل الغداة. كأن الأذان بأذنيه. وفي رواية: فقال: به به إنك لضخم. وفي رواية: قال رسول الله: صلاة الليل مثنى مثنى. فإذا رأيت أن الصبح يدركك فأوتر بواحدة، فقيل لابن عمر: ما مثنى مثنى؟ قال: أن يسلم في كل ركعتين.
Bukhari narrated it in Witr (995), and Muslim narrated it in the prayer of travelers (157/749), both from the hadith of Hammad bin Zayd, who said, Anas bin Sirin narrated to us, from Ibn Umar, and he related the hadith. The wording given is Muslim's. As for Bukhari, he did not mention Ibn Umar's rebuke of Anas bin Sirin in his saying, "You are indeed thickheaded..." but he added, from Hammad bin Zayd's tafsir of his saying, "as if the adhan were in his ears," meaning quickly.The second narration was related by Muslim from the hadith of Shubah, from Anas bin Sirin, and the third narration he related from the hadith of Uqbah bin Hurayth, from Ibn Umar.His saying "you are indeed thickheaded" is a reference to dullness, sluggishness, and lack of manners. They said this description is generally applied to someone thickheaded. He said this only because the man had interrupted his speech before he had finished his account.His saying "bih bih" is spelled with an unvoweled ba followed by a silent ha, repeated. It has been said that its meaning is "enough, enough," as a rebuke and a way of checking someone.