“This ḥadīth has numerous lines of transmission and is a principal proof in this field.” He then said: “Many of the early imāms and past Qurʾān-reciters considered it recommended to stop at the end of every verse, even when the verses are thematically connected.” I add: this is a sunnah that most reciters today—let alone other Muslims—have regrettably set aside. Al-Ṭaḥāwī also cites the report (1/117), as does al-Ḥākim (1/232), through the chain of Ḥafṣ b. Ghiyāth, who said: Ibn Jurayj narrated to us with the wording: “He would pray in her house and recite: bismi-llāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. al-ḥamdu li-llāh rabbi l-ʿālamīn. al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. māliki yawmi d-dīn. iyyāka naʿbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn. ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm. ṣirāṭ alladhīna anʿamta ʿalayhim ghayri l-maghdūb ʿalayhim wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn.” This is al-Ṭaḥāwī’s wording, and its isnād is sound. Al-Tirmidhī’s version reads: “and he would recite it as: malik yawmi d-dīn.” Al-Tirmidhī ruled the chain broken, saying: “This is a gharīb ḥadīth; it is the view held and preferred by Abū ʿUbayd. Yahyā b. Saʿīd al-Amawī and others narrated it from Ibn Jurayj—from Ibn Abī Mulaykah—from Umm Salamah, but its isnād is not connected, for al-Layth b. Saʿd transmitted the same report from Ibn Abī Mulaykah—from Yaʿlā b. Mamlak—from Umm Salamah, describing the Prophet’s recitation verse by verse. Al-Layth’s report is the sounder one.” Al-Layth’s report is recorded by Ibn al-Mubārak in al-Zuhd (38/116 = al-Kawākib, 575); al-Bukhārī, Afʿāl al-ʿIbād (75); Abū Dāwūd (1/231); al-Nasāʾī (1/158, 242); al-Ṭaḥāwī (1/118); Ibn Naṣr (52); al-Ḥākim (1/310); and Aḥmad (6/294) through various routes.