What is meant by it is conversation that would be permissible at a time other than this, where doing it or leaving it are equal. As for talk that is forbidden or disliked at times other than this, at this time it is even more severely forbidden and disliked. But as for talk concerning good — such as studying knowledge, relating stories of the righteous, [discussing] noble character, conversing with a guest or with someone seeking a need, and the like — there is no dislike in it; rather it is recommended. Likewise talk for an excuse or some incidental matter: there is no dislike in it. The sound (ṣaḥīḥ) hadiths concur in support of all that I have mentioned.
رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī٣٣٤ - باب كراهة الحديث بعد العشاء الآخرة
٣٣٤ - باب كراهة الحديث بعد العشاء الآخرة
- ﵁: - ﷺ -
Abū Barza (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ disliked sleeping before the ʿishāʾ prayer and conversation after it. Agreed upon.
﵄: - ﷺ -
Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed the ʿishāʾ near the end of his life, and when he had given the salām he said: "Do you see this night of yours? At the turn of a hundred years, no one who is on the face of the earth today will remain." Agreed upon.
وعن أنس - ﵁: أنَّهم انتظروا النَّبِيَّ - ﷺ - فَجَاءهُمْ قَريبًا مِنْ شَطْرِ اللَّيْلِ فَصَلَّى بِهِمْ - يَعْنِي: العِشَاءَ - ثمَّ خَطَبنا فقالَ: «ألاَ إنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ صَلُّوا، ثُمَّ رَقَدُوا، وَإنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَزَالُوا فِي صَلاَةٍ مَا انْتَظَرْتُمُ الصَّلاَةَ». رواه البخاري.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that they waited for the Prophet ﷺ, and he came to them near the middle of the night and led them in prayer — meaning the ʿishāʾ. Then he addressed us and said: "Behold, the people have prayed and then gone to sleep, but you will not cease to be in prayer so long as you are waiting for the prayer." Narrated by al-Bukhārī.