(4) “I never saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ perform any of his subhah (voluntary prayers) sitting-down—until one year before his death. From then on he would pray his subhah seated, reciting a surah and chanting it with such measured tarteel that it took longer than a surah normally longer than it.” Malik narrates it (1/157) from Ibn Shihab, from al-Saʾib b. Yazid, from al-Mutalib b. Abi Wadaʿa al-Sahmi, from her. The same chain is reported through Malik by Muslim (2/164), al-Nasaʾi (1/245), al-Tirmidhi in the Sunan (2/211–212) and in al-Shamaʾil (2/99), al-Bayhaqi (2/490), Ahmad (6/285), and Imam Muhammad (112). Muslim and Ahmad also transmit it through Maʿmar, from al-Zuhri, with the same isnad; it has already been cited in the section on “Standing.” Latifah (subtle point): this isnad contains three Companions in immediate succession, each relating from the next: al-Saʾib, al-Mutalib, and Hafsa. (1) A report states that the number of Quranic verses corresponds to the number of degrees in Paradise. The reciter will be told, “Climb the steps in proportion to the verses you used to recite from the Book.” Whoever completes the entire Quran will attain the highest degree of Paradise, while one who recites only part of it will ascend accordingly; the reward therefore ends where the recitation ends. See Maʿalim (1/289–290) of Imam al-Khattabi. (The report is classed as munkar and is listed in Silsilat al-Daʿifa, no. 3858.) (2) This wording is from the hadith of ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAmr. It is recorded by Abu Dawud (1/231), al-Tirmidhi (2/150, Bulaq ed.), Ibn Nasr (70), al-Hakim (1/552–553), al-Bayhaqi (2/53), Ahmad (2/192), and al-Maqdisi in