And some said that His words, “And We record what they have sent ahead and their traces,” mean: their footsteps to the mosque. (1)
It is narrated from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri that he said: Banu Salamah complained about the distance of their homes from the mosque, so Allah Most High revealed: “And We record what they have sent ahead and their traces.” (2)
Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Salihi informed us; Abu Sa‘id Muhammad ibn ‘Isa al-Sayrafi narrated to us; Abu al-‘Abbas al-Asamm narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Hisham ibn Mulas al-Numayri narrated to us; Marwan al-Fazari narrated to us; Humayd narrated to us from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “Banu Salamah wished to move nearer to the mosque, but the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, disliked that Medina should be left deserted. He said, ‘O Banu Salamah, will you not reckon your footsteps as acts for which you will be rewarded?’ So they remained where they were.” (3)
⦗91b⦘ ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nu‘aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma‘il narrated to us; Muhammad ibn al-‘Ala’ narrated to us; Abu Usamah narrated to us from Yazid ibn ‘Abd Allah, from Abu Burdah, from Abu Musa, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The people who earn the greatest reward for prayer are those who walk the farthest distance, then those next farthest. And the one who waits for the prayer in order to pray it with the imam earns a greater reward than one who prays and then sleeps.” (4)
His words, Most High: “And We have enumerated everything”: that is, We have preserved it, counted it, and made it clear, “in a clear record”: namely, the Preserved Tablet.