It is also reported by Ahmad (5/344). Al-Nawawi writes in his Sharh Muslim: “This report is one of the texts over whose apparent sense the jurists have differed, and our school has two opinions regarding it. The more prevalent view is that the imam should not noticeably lengthen the first rak‘ah; the hadith is interpreted to mean that the Prophet merely prolonged the opening supplication (du‘a al-iftitah) and the ta‘awwudh, not the Qur’anic recitation itself. The second view holds that it is recommended to lengthen the recitation in the first rak‘ah intentionally, and this is the sounder, preferred position because it accords with the plain wording of the sunnah.” I would object, however, that what is related from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri undermines that interpretation, for it states that the Prophet’s recitation in each rak‘ah was about thirty verses, making no distinction between them. The most plausible conclusion is that the Prophet sometimes made the two rak‘ahs equal and at other times prolonged the first more than the second. Allah knows best. (1) This refers to the hadith of Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri. Muslim (2/38), al-Nasa’i (1/153), and al-Bayhaqi (2/66) transmit it through al-Walid b. Muslim—Sa‘id b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz—‘Atiyyah b. Qays—Qaza‘ah—from Abu Sa‘id. It is also related by Muslim, al-Bukhari in his separate booklet (no. 21), Ibn Majah (1/273), al-Bayhaqi (2/390), and Ahmad (3/35) through the route of Mu‘awiyah b. Salih—Rabi‘ah b. Yazid, who said: “Qaza‘ah informed me, ‘I came to Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri while he was surrounded by many people. When they dispersed, I said to him, ‘I wish to ask you only…’”