Hadith: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer during the month of Ramadan, offering eight Rak‘ahs as well as the Witr. The next night, we gathered in the mosque and hoped that he would come out to us. However, we remained in the mosque until the morning

عن جابر بن عبد الله رضي الله عنهما قال: صلَّى بِنَا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في رمضان ثَمَان رَكَعَات والوِتر، فلمَّا كان من القَابِلَة اجْتَمَعْنَا في المسجد ورَجَونا أن يَخْرُجَ إِلَينَا، فلم نَزَلْ في المسجد حتى أصْبَحْنَا، فدَخَلْنَا على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فقلنا له: يا رسول الله، رَجَوْنَا أن تَخْرُجَ إِلَينَا فَتُصَلِّي بِنَا، فقال: «كَرِهت أن يُكْتَب عليكُم الوِتر».
[حسن] - [رواه ابن خزيمة]

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer during the month of Ramadan, offering eight Rak‘ahs as well as the Witr. The next night, we gathered in the mosque and hoped that he would come out to us. However, we remained in the mosque until the morning. Thereafter, we entered the Messenger’s place and said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, we were hoping that you would come out and lead us in prayer." He replied: "I feared that the Witr might be made obligatory upon you."
[Good hadith] - [Ibn Khuzaymah]

Explanation

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) led his Companions in offering eight Rak‘ahs and the Witr during the month of Ramadan. The next night, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with him) gathered in the mosque, thinking that the Messenger would do the same as he had done the night before. So they waited for him until the morning. Then they went to the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him why he had not attended to lead them in prayer. In response, he clarified that he feared the possibility of this prayer becoming obligatory upon them. That is why he did not join them in the mosque – out of mercy and compassion towards his followers. Speaking about this noble Prophet, Allah, the Almighty, says: {There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful.} [Sūrat At-Tawbah: 128] The original version of this Hadīth was narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who reported: “The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) went out in the middle of the night and prayed in the mosque once, and some men prayed with him. The people spoke about it the next morning, and so more people gathered and prayed with him. They circulated the news the following morning, and so, on the third night, the number of people increased greatly. The Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came out, and they prayed behind him. On the fourth night, the mosque was overwhelmed by people beyond its capacity. However, the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came out for the Fajr prayer only. Upon finishing the prayer, he faced the people, uttered the testimony of faith, and then said: ‘To proceed: Verily, your gathering was not hidden to me, but I was afraid that this prayer might be enjoined upon you and you might not be able to perform it.’”