Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1004
أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ يُونُسَ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ شَقِيقٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ إِنِّي لأَعْرِفُ النَّظَائِرَ الَّتِي كَانَ يَقْرَأُ بِهِنَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عِشْرِينَ سُورَةً فِي عَشْرِ رَكَعَاتٍ ثُمَّ أَخَذَ بِيَدِ عَلْقَمَةَ فَدَخَلَ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ إِلَيْنَا عَلْقَمَةُ فَسَأَلْنَاهُ فَأَخْبَرَنَا بِهِنَّ .
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim informed us: ʿIsa ibn Yunus reported to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Shaqiq, from ʿAbdullah, who said: “I know the corresponding surahs that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite: twenty surahs in ten rakʿahs.” Then he took ʿAlqamah by the hand and went inside. ʿAlqamah then came out to us; we asked him, and he told us which surahs they were.
Translation notes
The passage calls the surahs al-naẓāʾir (counterparts/surahs corresponding to one another); it does not specify here the precise basis of that correspondence.
قَالَ إِنِّي لأَعْرِفُ النَّظَائِرَ الَّتِي كَانَ يَقْرَأُ بِهِنَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عِشْرِينَ سُورَةً فِي عَشْرِ رَكَعَاتٍ ثُمَّ أَخَذَ بِيَدِ عَلْقَمَةَ فَدَخَلَ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ إِلَيْنَا عَلْقَمَةُ فَسَأَلْنَاهُ فَأَخْبَرَنَا بِهِنَّ .
The Arabic term al-naẓāʾir indicates counterparts or corresponding items; the specific relation is not explained in this report.
Does al-naẓāʾir here refer to pairs of surahs of comparable length, or another kind of correspondence?