Al-Nasāʾī likewise reports it.
Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿUthmān, on the authority of Bukayr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Sulaymān ibn Yasār, from Abū Hurayrah, related: “I have never prayed behind anyone whose prayer more closely resembled that of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, than so-and-so.”
Sulaymān added: “He would lengthen the first two rakʿahs of ẓuhr and shorten the last two; he kept ʿaṣr light; in maghrib he recited from the short sūrahs of the Mufaṣṣal, in ʿishāʾ from the middle-length sūrahs of the Mufaṣṣal, and at dawn from the long sūrahs of the Mufaṣṣal.”
This narration is recorded by al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah, and its chain meets the criteria of Muslim.
Concerning al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿUthmān, Aḥmad and Yaḥyā said, “He is trustworthy,” and he also said about him
(1) Musnad Ahmad 2/26; Sunan al-Nasai, Book of Imamah, chapter “The concession for the imam to prolong the prayer,” 2/95. The chain of transmission is sound (sahih).
(2) Al-Dahhak ibn Uthman ibn Abd Allah ibn Khalid ibn Hizam al-Asadi al-Hizami, Abu Uthman, a Medinan transmitter of the seventh generation. Ibn Hajar states in Taqrib al-Tahdhib: “reliable, though he errs.” His narrations are found in Sahih Muslim and the four Sunan. Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1/373, no. 11 (D).
(3) Bukayr ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Ashajj, mawla of Banu Makhzum, Abu Abd Allah al-Madani, later resident of Egypt. Ibn Hajar notes in Taqrib al-Tahdhib: “trustworthy, fifth generation.” He died in 120 AH. Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1/108, no. 137 (B).
(4) Sulayman ibn Yasar al-Hilali al-Madani, mawla of Maymunah—others say of Umm Salamah—one of the Seven Jurists, a leading third-generation scholar, reliable and distinguished. He died around 100 AH. See Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1/231, no. 505 (S).
(5) Reported by al-Nasai in the Book of the Opening Takbir, chapter “Lightening the recitation and the standing,” 2/167; and by Ibn Majah in the Book of Establishing Prayer, chapter “Recitation in Zuhr and Asr,” hadith 827 (1/270), in abridged form.
(6) “Yahya” here refers to Yahya ibn Main.
(7) See Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 4/447, no. 777.