the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was: “Owner of the Day of Judgment” (1).
This is preferable: pausing at the end of each verse, even when it is connected to what follows. Some Quran reciters preferred to follow the themes and intended meanings, pausing where these conclude. Yet following the guidance and sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, is more appropriate. Among those who discussed this were al-Bayhaqī in his Shu‘ab al-Īmān (Branches of Faith) (2) and others. They favored (3) pausing at the ends of verses, even when they are connected to what follows.
He would recite a surah slowly and distinctly, so that its recitation took longer than that of a longer surah. He also stood in prayer repeating a single verse until morning (4).
(1) After this, the edition of ‘Abd al-Latīf adds: “It was verse by verse,” as do the editions of al-Fiqī and al-Risāla. Al-Zuhrī’s statement was recorded by Abū Dāwūd (4000), through ‘Abd al-Razzāq, from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhrī—Ma‘mar added, “Sometimes he mentioned Ibn al-Musayyab”—who said: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmān used to recite: ‘Māliki yawmi l-dīn’ (Master of the Day of Judgment). The first to recite it as ‘Maliki yawmi l-dīn’ (King of the Day of Judgment) was Marwān.” Abū Dāwūd preferred this mursal report to the versions transmitted as musnad through al-Zuhrī from Anas [al-Tirmidhī (2928), who judged it weak, as did Abū Hātim in al-‘Ilal (1715)], and through al-Zuhrī from Sālim from his father [Sa‘īd ibn Mansūr (169, Tafsīr)]. See also Ibn ‘Adī’s al-Kāmil (8/394–395), the entry on ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn al-Husayn ibn Tarjumān. Al-Dāraqutnī exhaustively examined all its transmission routes in his al-‘Ilal (1390), stating: “The reliably preserved version from al-Zuhrī, mentioning the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Abū Bakr, and ‘Umar, is mursal.” See also al-Gharā’ib wa-l-afrād (1/240, 275, 521; 2/351, al-Atrāf).
(2) (4/175). The wording of his statement in the manuscripts of this book is defective. The editor therefore commented: “Al-Minhāj (2/246) reads: ‘As for reciting the Quran with a pause after each verse, we consider this preferable to following the themes and intended meanings and pausing where they conclude.’ This is clearer.”
(3) Mīm-Bā’ reads: “He preferred.”
(4) Its sources were previously cited (p. 390).