dry, poor-quality dates. Pause at its wonders, stir hearts with it, and let none of you be concerned merely with reaching the end of the surah (1).”
‘Abd Allāh also said: “When you hear Allah say, ‘O you who believe,’ listen attentively, for what follows is either something good you are commanded to do or something evil you are directed to avoid (2).”
‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Laylā (3) said: “A woman came to me while I was reciting Surah Hūd. She said to me: ‘O ‘Abd al-Rahmān, is this how you recite Surah Hūd? By Allah, I have been reading it for (4) six months and have not finished it (5).’”
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would sometimes recite the Quran (6) quietly in the night prayer (7), and sometimes aloud. Sometimes he would prolong his standing, and sometimes shorten it. He would offer the witr prayer at the end of the night—which was his most frequent practice—and at its beginning
(1) Recorded in full by Ibn Nasr al-Marwazī in Qiyām al-layl (p. 132, abridged edition), but al-Maqrīzī omitted its chain of transmission. Ibn Abī Shayba recorded part of it (8825, 30782); its chain is disconnected between al-Sha‘bī and Ibn Mas‘ūd. Sa‘īd ibn Mansūr recorded a similar report (147, tafsīr section). For further details, see the editor’s commentary on it.
(2) Recorded by Sa‘īd ibn Mansūr (50, tafsīr section), and through him by al-Bayhaqī in al-Shu‘ab (1886). Its chain is disconnected. See the editor’s commentary in Sunan Sa‘īd ibn Mansūr.
(3) Al-Shu‘ab reads: “from a man among the descendants of Ibn Abī Laylā”; it also reads “O Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān” instead of “O ‘Abd al-Rahmān” below. Its editor considered it likely that the man was Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān, since he bore the kunyah Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān.
(4) ص, ج: mudh (“for”).
(5) Recorded by al-Bayhaqī in al-Shu‘ab (1887). Its chain contains an unknown narrator (majhūl) and an unnamed narrator (mubham).
(6) مب: bi-l-qirā’a (“with recitation”).
(7) ق, م add after this: wa-yasrud (“and he would recite continuously”); مب, ن read: wa-yusirr (“and he would recite quietly”).