English Translation

Abu Sa'id, freedman of Banu Hashim, told us, saying Husayn bin Nafi' al-Mazini told us -- my father said: this Husayn is reliable in hadith -- saying al-Hasan told us, from Sa'd bin Hisham, that he entered upon the Mother of the Believers, Aisha, and asked her about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. She said: He used to pray eight rak'ahs at night, and make the ninth the witr, and pray two rak'ahs sitting down. And she mentioned the ablution -- that he would rise for his prayer and order that his water for purification and his tooth-stick be brought. Then, when the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gained weight in his later years, he prayed six rak'ahs, made the seventh the witr, and prayed two rak'ahs sitting down. She said: He remained upon that until he was taken in death. I said: I want to ask you about celibacy -- what do you think of it? She said: Do not do it. Have you not heard Allah, Mighty and Majestic, say: 'And We did certainly send messengers before you and made for them wives and descendants'? So do not remain celibate. So he left having gained understanding, and he arrived in Basrah, and did not stay long before he went out to the land of Makran, and was killed there while engaged in his best deed.