except that he has preceded me to it.”

The wording is Aḥmad’s; Ibn Mājah narrates only the portion attributed to the Prophet.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. It has another route: al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUbayd Allāh narrated to us from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqamah, from al-Qurthaʿ, from Qays—or Ibn Qays—a man of Jaʿfī descent, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd while Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and I were with him. Ibn Masʿūd was reciting, so the Messenger stood and listened to his recitation. Then ʿAbd Allāh bowed and prostrated. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Ask, and you will be given; ask, and you will be given…’”

The hadith is similar. It was narrated by al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh (4/1/199), Aḥmad (1/38 and 39), and al-Ṭabarānī (3/9/1). Aḥmad then narrated it (1/25) through al-Aʿmash, from Khaythamah, from Qays ibn Marwān, from ʿUmar, with the same wording. Through his route, he also narrated it from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqamah, from ʿUmar, with the same wording. Through this route, al-Ḥākim narrated it (2/227 and 3/318) and said: “Authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.” Al-Dhahabī agreed with him.

I say: It appears that the chain is interrupted between ʿAlqamah and ʿUmar; between them are al-Qurthaʿ and Qays—who is Qays ibn Marwān, as in Ibrāhīm’s preceding narration from him. He is trustworthy and an authoritative narrator, and his version contains an additional detail which must therefore be accepted. However, the route to him includes al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Nakhaʿī, concerning whom there is criticism. See al-Ḍiyāʾ al-Maqdisī’s al-Mukhtārah (253–255, edited by me). Al-Qurthaʿ and Qays are both truthful, as stated in al-Taqrīb; thus, the chain is sound. The hadith also has another route, narrated by Abū al-Ḍuḥā from ʿAbd Allāh and attributed to the Prophet. Ibn Saʿd narrated it (2/342).