“I was in the middle of a surah and did not wish to break it off, and the Prophet ﷺ approved of that.” I add: The report is long; Abu Dawud (1/30–31) and others transmit it with a sound isnad. (1) Al-Tahawi (1/204) relates it through Sufyan → Asim → Abu al-ʿAliya, who said: “Someone who heard the Prophet ﷺ told me …,” and he cited the hadith. He also records it through Zuhayr b. Muʿawiyah, who said: “Asim al-Ahwal narrated to us from Abu al-ʿAliya, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said …,” and he mentioned it. I reported this to Ibn Sirin, who asked, “Did he name the person who told him?” I said, “No.” He replied, “Then ask him.” When I did so, he said, “I know exactly who related it to me and where he related it; I had already been praying for twenty years before this hadith reached me.” Imam Ahmad (5/65) transmits it via Yahya b. Saʿid al-Umawi, and Ibn Nasr in Qiyam al-Layl (61) via ʿAbd al-Wahid b. Ziyad—both from Asim—with the wording, “Every surah has its allotted share …,” and so forth. Ahmad adds: “Later I met him and said, ‘Ibn ʿUmar used to recite complete surahs in a single rakʿah; do you know who transmitted this hadith to you?’ He replied, ‘Indeed I do, and I even know how long ago he told it to me—fifty years ago.’” Ahmad also records it (5/59) through Abu Muʿawiyah and ʿAbdah, both from Asim, with the wording, “Give each surah …,” the remainder being identical. (*) Shaykh — may Allah have mercy on him — likewise cites it with an authentic chain in his edition of Sifat al-Salah, quoting ʿAbd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi’s al-Sunan (9/2).