Jundub b. ‘Abdallāh reported God’s messenger as saying, “Recite the Qur’ān as long as you can concentrate on it, but when your concentra­tion flags give it up.” (Bukhārī and Muslim.)

Abū Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “God has not listened to anything as He does to a prophet chanting* the Qur’ān.” *There are different opinions about the meaning of yataghannā which is here used. While some explain it as in the translation, others prefer to understand it in the sense of yastaghnī which means being content with. (Bukhārī and Muslim.)

Abdallāh b. ‘Amr reported God’s messenger as saying, “The one who recites the Qur’ān in less than three nights does not understand it.” Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd and Dārimī transmitted it.

Ibn Juraij quoted Ibn Abū Mulaika who reported Umm Salama as saying, ‘God’s messenger used to make pauses in his recitation. He would say, ‘Praise be to God, the Lord of the universe’, then stop. He would next say, ‘The Compassionate, the Merciful’, then stop.” Tirmidhī transmitted it, but he said that its isnād is not fully connected, because al-Laith transmitted this tradition from Ibn Abū Mulaika from Yā'lā b. Mamlak from Umm Salama, and al-Laith's tradition is sounder.

Hudhaifa reported God’s messenger as saying, "Recite the Qur’ān with the modulations and tones of the Arabs, but avoid the modulations of those who recite love poetry and the modulations of the people of the two Books. After my death people will come who will trill when they recite the Qur’ān as is done in singing and wailing, but it will go no farther than their throats, and they and those who are charmed by their performance will be led into error.” Baihaqī in Shu'ab al-īmān and Razīn in his book transmitted it.

‘Abīda al-Mulaikī who was a Companion reported God’s messenger as saying, "Do not make the Qur’ān a pillow,* but recite it as it deserves to be recited during the night and the day. Recite it aloud, chant it and consider its contents, perhaps you may prosper; but do not seek to get reward for it in this world, for it provides rewards.”(i.e., in the next world)*A figure of speech warning against laziness or neglect.Baihaqi trans­mitted it in Shu'ab' al-īmān.

I heard a man who recited, and as I had heard the Prophet reciting differently I took him to the Prophet and told him and noticed that he gave a disapproving look. He then said, “Both of you are doing it well, so do not disagree, for your predecessors disagreed and perished.” Bukhārī transmitted it.

Buraida reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone recites the Qur’ān seeking thereby to get a living from people, he will come on the day of resurrection with his face as a fleshless bone.” Baihaqi trans­mitted it in Shu’ab al-īmān.

Ibn ‘Abbās said that God's messenger did not know where sūras were to be separated till “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,” was sent down. Abū Dāwūd transmitted it.

Ibn 'Abbas said he asked ‘Uthmān what had induced them to deal with al-Anfāl (Qur’ān, 8) which is one of the Mathānī* and with Barā'a which is one with a hundred verses, joining them without writing the line contain­ing "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,” and putting it among the seven long ones. When he asked again what had induced them to do that, ‘Uthmān replied, "Over a period sūras with numerous verses would come down to God’s messenger, and when some­thing came down to him he would call one of those who wrote and tell him to put these verses in the sūra in which such and such is mentioned, and when a verse came down he would tell them to put it in the sūra in which such and such is mentioned. Now al-Anfāl was one of the first to come down in Medina and Barā’a was among the last of the Qur’ān to come down, and the subject-matter of the one resembled that of the other, so because God’s messenger was taken without having explained to us whether it belonged to it, for that reason I joined them without writing the line containing ‘In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, and put it among the long sūras.'’ *Sūras with less than a hundred verses, but more than those in al mufassal.Ahmad, Tirmidhī and Abū Dāwūd transmitted it.

When we were in Hims Ibn Mas’ūd recited sūra Yūsuf (Quran, 12) and a man declared that it was not sent down like that. To this ‘Abdallāh replied, “I swear by God that I recited it in the time of God’s messenger and he told me I had done it well.” While speaking to him he noticed the smell of wine on him, so he said, “Do you drink wine and declare the Book false?” and then gave him the prescribed beating. (Bukhārī and Muslim.)

Abū Bakr sent for me after the slaughter of those who fought at al-Yamāma and ‘Umar b. al-Khattāb was with him. Abū Bakr told me that ‘Umar had come to him and drawn attention to the extensive slaughter among Qur’ān readers at the battle of al- Yamāma, saying he was afraid that if readers continued to be killed in large numbers at other battles a large amount of the Qur’ān would be lost, and that he therefore thought he should give command that the Qur’ān be collected. He had asked. ‘Umar how he could do a thing which God’s messenger had not done, and ‘Umar, swearing by God that this was best, had kept at him till God made him inclined to do that, and he came to hold ‘Umar’s opinion about the matter. Zaid told how Abū Bakr said to him, “You are an intelligent young man whom we do not suspect and you have been writing down the revelation which came to God’s messenger, so search for the Qur’ān and collect it,” adding: I swear by God that if they had imposed on me the transportation of a mountain it would not have been a heavier load for me than the collecting of the Qur’ān which he ordered me to undertake. I asked how they could do a thing which God’s messenger had not done and Abū Bakr, swearing by God that this was best, kept at me till God made me in­clined to do what He had made Abū Bakr and ‘Umar inclined to do. I therefore searched for the Qur’ān and collected it from leafless palm branches, white stones and the breasts of men till I found the end of sūra at-Tauba (Qur’ān, 9) with Abū Khuzaima al-Ansārī, not having found it with anyone else: "A messenger from among yourselves has come to you . . .” to the end of Barā'a* (Qur’ān, 9 128-129). The sheets were deposited with Abū Bakr till God took him, then with ‘Umar during his lifetime, then with Hafsa, ‘Umar’s daughter. *Tauba and Barā’a are alternative titles of sūra 9.Bukhārī transmitted it.

Being alarmed at their difference in reading the Qur’ān he said to ‘Uthmān, “Commander of the faithful, set this people right before they disagree about the Book in the manner of the Jews and the Christians.” ‘Uthmān therefore sent a message to Hafsa asking her to send the sheets to him so that they might make copies of them, after which he would return them to her. Hafsa sent them to ‘Uthmān and he commanded Zaid b. Thābit, ‘Abdallāh b. az-Zubair, Sa'īd b. al-‘Ās and ‘Abdallāh b. al-Hārith b. Hishām who made copies of them. ‘Uthmān gave instructions to the three members of Quraish that when they and Zaid b. Thābit disagreed about anything in the Qur’ān they were to write in the dialect of Quraish, for it came down only in their dialect. They did so, and when they had made several copies of the sheets ‘Uthmān returned the sheets to Hafsa. He then sent a copy of those which they had transcribed to every region, giving orders that every sheet or volume which contained a part of the Qur’ān in different form should be burned. Ibn Shihāb said he was told by Khārija b. Zaid b. Thābit that he heard Zaid b. Thābit say that when they transcribed the Qur’ān he failed to find a verse in al-Ahzāb which he had heard God’s messenger reciting. He therefore sought it and found it with Khuzaima b. Thābit al-Ansārī, “Among the believers are men who have been true to the covenant they made with God” (Qur’ān, 33:23). They then added it to its sūra in the copy of the Qur’ān. Bukhārī transmit­ted it.