Muwatta Malik 271
موطأ مالك#271Da'ifوَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، أَنَّهُ بَلَغَهُ أَنَّ عَائِشَةَ، زَوْجَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَتْ تَقُولُ مَنْ خَشِيَ أَنْ يَنَامَ حَتَّى يُصْبِحَ فَلْيُوتِرْ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَنَامَ وَمَنْ رَجَا أَنْ يَسْتَيْقِظَ آخِرَ اللَّيْلِ فَلْيُؤَخِّرْ وِتْرَهُ .
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say, "If someone fears that he will sleep through till the morning, let him pray the witr before he sleeps, and if some one hopes to wake for the last part of the night, let him delay his witr
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
In-book reference: 7:18