‘A’isha said that between the time when he finished the evening prayer and the dawn prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) used to pray eleven rak'as, uttering the salutation at the end of every two and observing the witr,* with a single one, and during that he would make a prostration about as long as one of you would take to recite fifty verses before raising his head. When the mu’adhdhin finished making the call for the dawn prayer and he saw the dawn clearly, he stood up and prayed two short rak'as, then lay down on his right side till the mu’adhdhin came to him for the iqama, whereupon he would go out.
*Cf. chap. 36
(Bukhari and Muslim.)
She said, “When the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed the two rak'as of the dawn prayer, he would talk to me if I was awake, otherwise he would lie down.”
Muslim transmitted it.
وَعَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ عَائِشَةَ عَنْ صَلَاةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِاللَّيْلِ. فَقَالَت: سبع وتسع وَإِحْدَى عشر رَكْعَة سوى رَكْعَتي الْفجْر. رَوَاهُ البُخَارِيّ
Masruq said he asked ‘A’isha what prayers God’s Messenger said during the night and she replied, “Seven, nine, and eleven rak'as apart from the two rak'as of the dawn prayer.”
Bukhari transmitted it.
Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “When one of you gets up at night; he should begin the prayer with two short rak'as.”
Muslim transmitted it.