Ati reported, "While I was shooting my arrows during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the sun was eclipsed. So I cast them aside and said, 'Let me see what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ does during this eclipse of the sun today.'I came up to him and found him with his hands raised, supplicating, declaring Allah's greatness, praising Him, and proclaiming His oneness, until the sun was uncovered. Then he recited two surahs and performed two rakahs."In another narration, "I came to him while he was standing in prayer with his hands raised, glorifying Allah, praising Him, proclaiming His oneness, declaring His greatness, and supplicating, until the sun was uncovered. When the eclipse cleared, he recited two surahs and prayed two rakahs."
بينما أنا أرمي بأسهمي فيي حياة رسول الله ﷺ إذا انكسفت الشمس فنبذتهن، وقلت: لأنظرن إلى ما يحدث لرسول الله ﷺ في انكساف الشمس اليوم، فانتهيت إليه وهو رافع يديه، يدعو ويكبر ويحمد ويهلل. حتى جلي عن الشمس، فقرأ سورتين، وركع ركعتين. وفي رواية: فأتيته وهو قائم في الصلاة رافع يديه، فجعل يسبح ويحمد ويهلل ويكبر ويدعو. حتى حسر عنها، قال: فلما حسر عنها قرأ سورتين، وصلى ركعتين.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of the Eclipse (913) through several chains from Jareeri, from Abu Ala Hayan bin Umayr, from Abdul-Rahman bin Samura, who was one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he mentioned it.The first narration appears to contradict the second, because in the first narration he prayed when the sun became eclipsed, while in the second he was found already praying. This latter version is the sahih one, and the first narration must be understood in light of the second, since no one has held that the prayer began after the eclipse of the sun had ended. What actually happened is that the narrators gathered together everything that occurred from the Prophet ﷺ during this described period, of prayer, glorification, praise, declaring Allah's oneness, saying Allahu Akbar, and other acts, without intending to present them in strict chronological order.As for his statement, "he performed two rakat," with each rakah containing two bowings, as has been established in the preceding hadiths, this must be the case, since he prayed only once. So this unqualified statement is to be restricted by the preceding hadiths.