ʿAmr ibn Zurārah narrated to us; Ziyād (the scribe) transmitted from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who said: Dawūd ibn al-Ḥuṣayn related to me, from ʿIkrimah, the freedman of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him), that Ibn ʿAbbās told them:

“This verse—‘Do not raise your voice in your prayer, nor lower it to a whisper, but seek a way between the two’ (al-Isrāʾ 17:110)—was revealed on account of those people. Its meaning is: ‘Do not raise your voice in prayer, lest they drive others away from you; yet do not recite so softly that the one who wishes to listen—someone who eavesdrops without their knowledge—cannot hear it. Perhaps he will ponder part of what he hears and benefit from it.’”