Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2884
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، فِي تَفْسِيرِ حَدِيثِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِنْ سَمَاءٍ وَلاَ أَرْضٍ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ آيَةِ الْكُرْسِيِّ . قَالَ سُفْيَانُ لأَنَّ آيَةَ الْكُرْسِيِّ هُوَ كَلاَمُ اللَّهِ وَكَلاَمُ اللَّهِ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ خَلْقِ اللَّهِ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Isma‘il said: Al-Humaydi related from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, in explaining the report of ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, that he said, ‘Allah has created nothing in the heavens or the earth greater than Ayat al-Kursi.’ Sufyan said, ‘That is because Ayat al-Kursi is the speech of Allah, and Allah’s speech is greater than His creation of the heavens and the earth.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This is an explanatory report, not presented here as a prophetic hadith. The wording attributes the statement about Ayat al-Kursi to ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud and the rationale about Allah’s speech to Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah.