He went on, “When I finally left ʿĀṣim, I had not dropped a single letter of the Quran.”

ʿUbayd ibn Yaʿīsh relates: I heard Abū Bakr say, “I never met anyone more skilled in Qurʾanic recitation than ʿĀṣim, so I read to him; and I never met anyone more learned in jurisprudence than al-Mughīra (1), so I attached myself to him.”

Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh also said, “Entering the field of knowledge is easy, but to depart from it to face Allah is hard.”

And Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith reported that he heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh say, “O my two guardian angels, pray to Allah for me, for you are more obedient to Him than I am.”

Multiple lines of transmission state that Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh spent about forty years completing a full recitation of the Quran once every day and night.

This is a form of devotion that commands respect; however, adhering to the Sunnah takes precedence. It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ forbade ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr to finish the Quran in less than three days (2), and he said, “Whoever recites the Quran in less than three days has not understood it.” (3)

Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Masrūq said: Yaḥyā al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us, saying, “When…"