The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delayed the night prayer until people had fallen asleep, woken up, fallen asleep again, and woken up once more. Umar bin Khattab stood and called out, "The prayer!"Ata said that Ibn Abbas reported, "The Prophet of Allah ﷺ then came out, and it is as though I can see him now, water dripping from his head, with his hand placed on his head." He said, "Were it not that I would burden my community, I would have ordered them to pray it at this hour."I asked Ata to confirm exactly how the Prophet ﷺ placed his hand on his head, as Ibn Abbas had described. So Ata spread his fingers slightly apart, then placed the tips of his fingers on the top of the head, then drew them together, sliding them across the head until his thumb touched the edge of the ear nearest the face, by the temple and the side of the beard, neither hurrying nor lingering, but moving in just that manner.He said, "Were it not that I would burden my community, I would have ordered them to pray at this hour."
قال ابن جريج قلت لعطاء وقال سمعت
أعتم رسول الله ﷺ ليلة بالعشاء حتى رقد الناس واستيقظوا ورقدوا واستيقظوا فقام عمر بن الخطاب فقال الصلاة قال عطاء قال ابن عباس فخرج نبي الله ﷺ كأني أنظر إليه الآن يقطر رأسه ماء واضعا يده على رأسه فقال لولا أن أشق على أمتي لأمرتهم أن يصلوها هكذا فاستثبت عطاء كيف وضع النبي ﷺ على رأسه يده كما أنبأه ابن عباس فبدد لي عطاء بين أصابعه شيئا من تبديد ثم وضع أطراف أصابعه على قرن الرأس ثم ضمها يمرها كذلك على الرأس حتى مست إبهامه طرف الأذن مما يلي الوجه على الصدغ وناحية اللحية لا يقصر ولا يبطش إلا كذلك وقال لولا أن أشق على أمتي لأمرتهم أن يصلوا هكذا