"I asked ‘A'isha (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with her): “Did the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) perform the mid-morning ritual prayer?” She said: “Yes, four cycles, and he used to add whatever Allah wished (Almighty and Glorious is He).”
حَدَّثَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ غَيْلانَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ الطَّيَالِسِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ الرِّشْكِ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ مُعَاذَةَ، قَالَتْ: قُلْتُ لِعَائِشَةَ: أَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُصَلِّي الضُّحَى؟
قَالَتْ: نَعَمْ، أَرْبَعَ رَكَعَاتٍ، وَيَزِيدُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.
“I have never heard anyone mention seeing the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) performing the mid¬morning ritual prayer except Umm Hani (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with her). “She related that Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) entered her house on the Day of the Conquest of Mecca, whereupon he performed the major ritual ablution and glorified Allah in eight cycles. I never saw him (Allah bless him and give him peace) perform a ritual prayer in a more abbreviated form than that, even though he completed the bowing !”
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مُرَّةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي لَيْلَى، قَالَ: مَا أَخْبَرَنِي أَحَدٌ، أَنَّهُ رَأَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُصَلِّي الضُّحَى إِلا أُمُّ هَانِئٍ، فَإِنَّهَا حَدَّثَتْ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، دَخَلَ بَيْتَهَا يَوْمَ فَتْحِ مَكَّةَ فَاغْتَسَلَ فَسَبَّحَ ثَمَانِيَ رَكَعَاتٍ مَا رَأَيْتُهُ صلى الله عليه وسلم، صَلَّى صَلاةً قَطُّ أَخَفَّ مِنْهَا، غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُتِمُّ الرُّكُوعَ وَالسُّجُودَ.
“I asked 'A'isha (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with her): ‘Was the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to performing the mid-morning ritual prayer?’ She said: ‘No, except when he was coming back from an absence.'"
حدثنا ابن أبي عمر , حدثنا وكيع، حدثنا كهمس بن الحسن، عن عبد الله بن شقيق قال: قلت لعائشة: أكان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلي الضحى؟
قالت:لا إلا يجىء من مغيبه.
Abi Sa'id al-Khudri said (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with him):
"The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would perform the mid-morning ritual prayer so often that we would say: “He does not omit it,” and he would omit it so often that we would say: “He does not perform it!”
حَدَّثَنَا زِيَادُ بْنُ أَيُّوبَ الْبَغْدَادِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ رَبِيعَةَ، عَنْ فُضَيْلِ بْنِ مَرْزُوقٍ، عَنْ عَطِيَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ: كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، يُصَلِّي الضُّحَى حَتَّى نَقُولَ: لا يَدَعُهَا، وَيَدَعُهَا حَتَّى نَقُولَ: لا يُصَلِّيهَا.
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari said (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with him):
“The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to devote himself to four cycles ?’ He said: ‘Yes!’ I said: ‘Do they contain a separating salutation of peace?’ He said: ‘No!'”
Another chain reports a similar narration.
“Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to perform four cycles of ritual prayer after the sun had passed its zenith before the noon prayer, and he said: 'It is a time in which the gates of heaven are opened, so I love to have a righteous deed ascend for me then!'”
"He used to perform four cycles of ritual prayer before noon", and he mentioned that Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to perform them at the time of the sun's zenith, and he used to prolong them.
