and Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn Ṣarma, by written authorisation—if not by direct audition—the wording being his. They both said:
“The judge Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Shāfiʿī narrated to us.” Al-Fatḥ added: “And Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥasan al-Ṭarāʾifī narrated to us in 541 AH, and Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Mukabbir in 543.” They said:
“Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Muʿaddil informed us; Abū al-Faḍl ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Zuhri informed us in 308 AH; Abū Bakr Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Firyābī narrated to us in 298 AH; Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Abū ʿAwānah narrated, from Qatādah, from Anas, from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, who said:
‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The likeness of the believer who recites the Quran is that of the citron: its scent is pleasant and its taste is pleasant. The believer who does not recite the Quran is like the date: it has no scent, yet its taste is sweet. The hypocrite who recites the Quran is like the basil plant: its scent is pleasant, but its taste is bitter. And the hypocrite who does not recite the Quran is like the colocynth: it has no scent and its taste is bitter.”’
Agreed upon (1).
Muslim and al-Tirmidhi also recorded it through Qutaybah. Our chain to him is higher while remaining fully connected—praise be to Allah.
Through the same isnād back to al-Firyābī: Hudbah ibn Khālid narrated to us; Hammām narrated to us; Qatādah narrated to us, from Anas, from Abū Mūsā, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The likeness of the believer who recites is like the citron…,” and he mentioned the ḥadith in full.
The two of them recorded it in its entirety from Hudbah.