—“Umm al-Qur’an is al-sab‘ al-mathani, and the Magnificent Qur’an.” This wording is corroborated by the hadith of Abu Sa‘id ibn al-Mu‘alla, who said: “I was praying in the mosque when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called me, yet I did not respond. I explained, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I was praying.’ He replied, ‘Did Allah not say: “Respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you”?’ He then added, ‘Before you leave the mosque I shall teach you a surah that is the greatest surah in the Qur’an.’ He took me by the hand, and when he was about to leave I reminded him, ‘Did you not say you would teach me the greatest surah in the Qur’an?’ He answered, ‘Al-hamdu lillahi rabbi l-‘alamin is al-sab‘ al-mathani and the Magnificent Qur’an that I have been given.’” Reported by al-Bukhari (8/127–129, 247, 307; 9/44); Abu Dawud; al-Nasa’i (1/145); al-Darimi (1/350); Ibn Majah (2/217); al-Tahawi, Mushkil (2/77); al-Bayhaqi (2/368–369); al-Tayalisi (178); and Ahmad (3/450; 4/211) through several chains from Shu‘bah, who said: Khubayb ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman related to us from Hafs ibn ‘Asim, from him. (1) The same phrase occurs in some routes of the hadith of Rifa‘ah ibn Rafi‘—documented at the beginning of this book (p. 56). Abu Dawud (1/137), followed by al-Bayhaqi (2/374) and Ahmad (4/340), transmit it through Muhammad ibn ‘Amr → ‘Ali ibn Yahya ibn Khalad al-Zurqi → Rifa‘ah, who said: