and Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Which of the Qur’an reciters do you rank first?”

Yahya told me—Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Dhabyān, from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him)—who said: “Which of the reciters do you consider the foremost?”

We answered, “The recitation of ʿAbdullāh (Ibn Masʿūd).”

He replied, “No. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to have the Qur’an reviewed before him once every Ramadan, except in the year in which he passed away; that year he had it reviewed twice. ʿAbdullāh was present on that occasion, so he witnessed what was abrogated and what was altered.”

This report was also transmitted by Zāʾidah, from Yaʿlā, from al-Aʿmash.