She heard him recite: “By those sent forth in succession” (Al-Mursalat, 1).(1)
She then said, “My son, your recitation of this sūrah has reminded me of something; it was the last sūrah I ever heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—recite in the Maghrib prayer.”(2)
Thus Umm al-Faḍl reported that this was the final surah she heard him recite at Maghrib. Umm al-Faḍl herself was not one of the Emigrants; rather, she belonged to those classed as weak,(3) as Ibn ʿAbbās said: “My mother and I(4) were among the weak ones whom Allah excused.”(5) This hearing, therefore, occurred late in his life.
Likewise, al-Bukhārī relates from Zayd ibn Thābit(6) that he heard the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—reciting in the Maghrib prayer “the longer of the two long sūrahs,”(7) and Zayd was among the younger Companions.
(1) Surah al-Mursalat, verse 1.
(2) Sahih Muslim, Book of Prayer, chapter “Recitation in the Dawn Prayer,” hadith 462 (1/338); and Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Call to Prayer, chapter “Recitation in the Maghrib Prayer,” hadith 763 (Fath al-Bari 2/246).
(3) MS B adds the phrase “may Allah be pleased with him.”
(4) The printed edition reads: “I and my father,” which is erroneous, for his father al-Abbas was not among the oppressed; see Fath al-Bari 8/255.
(5) Reported by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Tafsir, commentary on Surah al-Nisa, chapter on the verse “What is wrong with you that you do not fight,” hadith 4587 (Fath al-Bari 8/255).
(6) The Companion referred to is Zayd ibn Thabit ibn al-Dahhak ibn Zayd al-Ansari al-Khazraji, one of the younger Companions. His first military engagement was the Battle of the Trench, where he carried the banner of Banu al-Najjar. He served as one of the Prophet’s scribes of revelation, memorised the Qur’an in his youth, and—at the Prophet’s request—learned Syriac so that he could handle the Jews’ correspondence, reading and writing it on the Prophet’s behalf. He oversaw the first compilation of the Qur’an during Abu Bakr’s caliphate. The Prophet said of him, “The most learned of you in the laws of inheritance is Zayd.” A leading scholar, he died in 45 AH. See al-Isabah 1/561–62, no. 2880.
(7) Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Call to Prayer, chapter “Recitation in the Maghrib Prayer,” hadith 764 (Fath al-Bari 2/246).