Saʿd ibn ʿUbaydah transmitted—from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and then teach it.” (1)
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān remarked, “That ḥadīth is what made me take this seat.”
Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid said, “Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī used to teach us the Qur’an five verses at a time, five verses at a time.” (2)
Abū Ḥuṣayn ʿUthmān ibn ʿĀṣim said, “We would escort Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān from his study circle, for he was blind.”
Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh reported—from ʿĀṣim—from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—that he had recited to ʿAlī.
And Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said, “ʿAlī—may Allah ennoble his face—once came out to us while I was teaching recitation.”
Abū Janāb al-Kalbī narrated: Abū ʿAwn al-Thaqafī (3) told us, “I used to recite to Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—also recited to him.”
ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Abī Hāshim said: “Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allah, the Qur’an teacher, related to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; my father related to us; Ḥafṣ Abū ʿUmar related to us—from ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdalah, ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, Muḥammad ibn Abī Ayyūb, and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿĪsā—that they all recited to Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī and reported that he had told them he recited almost the entire Qur’an to ʿUthmān. He would ask ʿUthmān about its verses, and ʿUthmān would reply, ‘You are distracting me from the people’s affairs. Go to Zayd ibn Thābit; he sits for the people and makes himself available to them, whereas I am not…’