41 – “Your Lord marvels at a shepherd of sheep who, standing on the tip of a mountain crag, gives the adhan and then performs the prayer. Allah says, ‘Look at My servant: he proclaims the adhan and establishes the prayer out of fear of Me. I have forgiven My servant and admitted him to Paradise.’”

Abu Dawud narrated it in “The Prayer of the Traveller,” no. 1203; al-Nasa’i in “The Adhan” (1/108); and Ibn Hibban (260), all by way of Ibn Wahb from ʿAmr ibn al-Harith, who said that Abu ʿAshana related it to him from ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmir, who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say it,” and he mentioned the report.

I say: This is an Egyptian chain that is sound; all its transmitters are trustworthy. Abu ʿAshana’s given name is Ḥayy ibn Yuʾman, and he is reliable.

(al-shaziyyah): an out-jutting piece at the summit of a mountain.

Legal inference: The hadith indicates the desirability of giving the adhan even when one is praying alone; this is precisely the heading under which al-Nasa’i placed it. In some routes of the hadith of the man who prayed poorly, both the adhan and the iqama are explicitly commanded, so they should not be taken lightly.

42 – “Whoever gives the adhan for twelve years is guaranteed Paradise; for every adhan he calls, sixty good deeds are recorded for him, and for every iqama thirty good deeds.”

Narrated by Ibn Majah (no. 728), al-Hakim (1/205)—from whom al-Bayhaqi (1/433) also relates it—, Ibn ʿAdi (1/220), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah (1/58/1-2), and al-Diyaʾ in al-Muntaqa min Masmuʿatihi bi-Marw (32/1), all through ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih, who said: “Yahya ibn …”