“This is further supported by what has been authentically reported from a number of the Companions concerning passages that were revealed as part of the Quran and whose recitation was later abrogated, whether their legal rulings remained in force or not. Examples include Umar’s hadith: ‘If an elderly man and an elderly woman commit adultery, stone them without fail’; Anas’s hadith concerning the Quran reciters who were killed at Bi’r Ma’unah, in which he said: ‘Allah revealed Quranic words concerning them: “Convey to our people on our behalf that we have indeed met our Lord”’; Ubayy ibn Ka‘b’s hadith: ‘Surah al-Ahzab was comparable in length to Surah al-Baqarah’; and Hudhayfah’s hadith: ‘They do not recite a quarter of it’—meaning Surah Bara’ah. All of these are authentic hadiths. Ibn al-Durays also reported from Ibn Umar that he disliked a man saying, ‘I have read the entire Quran,’ and would say: ‘Part of the Quran has been withdrawn.’ None of this contradicts the hadith under discussion, for all of it was among that whose recitation was abrogated during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.”

2914 — “There are five matters which none knows except Allah: ‘Indeed, with Allah alone is knowledge of the Hour; He sends down the rain; He knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.’”

Ahmad (5/353) and al-Bazzar (3/65/2249) reported it through Zayd ibn al-Hubab: Husayn ibn Waqid narrated to us; Abd Allah narrated to me, saying: I heard my father, Buraydah, say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say it. I say: This is a good chain of transmission; all of its narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators. Its chain is continuous throughout, with explicit declarations of narration and hearing. For this reason, al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said in his Exegesis (3/453–454), after citing it through this chain of Ahmad: “Its chain is authentic, but they did not record it.” In al-Durr al-Manthur (5/169), al-Suyuti also attributed it to Ibn Mardawayh, al-Ruyani, and al-Diya’. Al-Suyuti said: “With an authentic chain.”