عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللّهُ عَنْهُمَا قالَ: كانَ رسولُ اللّهِ صَلّى اللّهُ عَلَيْهِ وسَلَّمَ يُصَلِّي مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَثْنَى مَثْنَى، ويُوتِرُ برَكْعَةٍ مِنْ آخِرِ اللَّيْلِ، ويُصَلِّي الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ قَبْلَ صَلاةِ الغَدَاةِ وَكَأَنَّ الأَذَانَ بِأُذُنَيْهِ. مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray during the night two by two, and to make witr with a single rak'ah at the end of the night; and he would pray the two rak'ahs before the morning prayer as though the call were in his ears. Agreed upon (al-Bukhari and Muslim).
الشرح · explanation
مثنى مثنى: أي ركعتين ركعتين. وكأنّ الأذان بأذنيه: المراد بالأذان هنا الإقامة، والمعنى أن النَّبِيّ كان يسرع إلى صلاة ركعتي الفجر كإسراع من يسمع إقامة الصلاة خشية فوات أول الوقت.
"Two by two" (mathna mathna): that is, two rak'ahs at a time. "As though the call were in his ears": what is meant by "the call" here is the iqamah, and the meaning is that the Prophet would hasten to pray the two rak'ahs of Fajr like the haste of one who hears the iqamah of the prayer, out of fear of missing the beginning of the time.
الدروس · lessons
الأفضل في صلاة الليل أن تصلي ركعتين ركعتين. في الحديث أنّ أقل الوتر ركعة، ويصليها منفصلة عما قبلها بالتسليم. استحباب المبادرة إلى صلاة ركعتي سنّة الفجر والتخفيف فيهما.
It is more excellent in the night prayer to pray two rak'ahs at a time. In the hadith is evidence that the least of witr is a single rak'ah, prayed separately from what precedes it by the taslim. It is recommended to hasten to the two sunnah rak'ahs of Fajr and to make them light.