Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
Special Virtues of the Qur'an's Chapters and Verses 22
عَنْ أُسَيْدِ بْنِ حُضَيْرٍ، قَالَ بَيْنَمَا هُوَ يَقْرَأُ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ سُورَةَ الْبَقَرَةِ وَفَرَسُهُ مَرْبُوطٌ عِنْدَهُ إِذْ جَالَتِ الْفَرَسُ فَسَكَتَ فَسَكَتَتْ فَقَرَأَ فَجَالَتِ الْفَرَسُ، فَسَكَتَ وَسَكَتَتِ الْفَرَسُ ثُمَّ قَرَأَ فَجَالَتِ الْفَرَسُ، فَانْصَرَفَ وَكَانَ ابْنُهُ يَحْيَى قَرِيبًا مِنْهَا فَأَشْفَقَ أَنْ تُصِيبَهُ فَلَمَّا اجْتَرَّهُ رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ حَتَّى مَا يَرَاهَا فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ حَدَّثَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ " اقْرَأْ يَا ابْنَ حُضَيْرٍ اقْرَأْ يَا ابْنَ حُضَيْرٍ ". قَالَ فَأَشْفَقْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَطَأَ يَحْيَى وَكَانَ مِنْهَا قَرِيبًا فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي فَانْصَرَفْتُ إِلَيْهِ فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَإِذَا مِثْلُ الظُّلَّةِ فِيهَا أَمْثَالُ الْمَصَابِيحِ فَخَرَجَتْ حَتَّى لاَ أَرَاهَا. قَالَ " وَتَدْرِي مَا ذَاكَ ". قَالَ لاَ. قَالَ " تِلْكَ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ دَنَتْ لِصَوْتِكَ وَلَوْ قَرَأْتَ لأَصْبَحَتْ يَنْظُرُ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهَا لاَ تَتَوَارَى مِنْهُمْ ". قَالَ ابْنُ الْهَادِ وَحَدَّثَنِي هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ خَبَّابٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ عَنْ أُسَيْدِ بْنِ حُضَيْرٍ.
Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr said: During the night, while he was reciting Sūrat al-Baqarah and his horse was tethered beside him, the horse began to move about. He fell silent, and it became still. He recited, and the horse began to move about. He fell silent, and the horse became still. Then he recited, and the horse began to move about. He turned away; his son Yaḥyā was near it, and he feared that it might strike him. When he pulled him close, he raised his head toward the sky until he could no longer see it. In the morning he told the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said, ‘Recite, Ibn Ḥuḍayr; recite, Ibn Ḥuḍayr.’ He said: I feared, Messenger of Allah, that it would trample Yaḥyā, who was near it. So I raised my head and turned toward him; I raised my head to the sky, and there was something like a canopy containing shapes like lamps. It went away until I could no longer see it. He said, ‘Do you know what that was?’ He said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Those were angels who came near because of your voice. Had you continued reciting, by morning people would have been looking at them; they would not have been hidden from them.’ Ibn al-Hād said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Khabbāb related this report to me from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, from Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr.
Translation notes
فَانْصَرَفَ وَكَانَ ابْنُهُ يَحْيَى قَرِيبًا مِنْهَا فَأَشْفَقَ أَنْ تُصِيبَهُ فَلَمَّا اجْتَرَّهُ رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ حَتَّى مَا يَرَاهَا فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ حَدَّثَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ " اقْرَأْ يَا ابْنَ حُضَيْرٍ اقْرَأْ يَا ابْنَ حُضَيْرٍ ".
In فَلَمَّا اجْتَرَّهُ رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ حَتَّى مَا يَرَاهَا, the pronouns’ referents and the antecedent of “it” are not explicit in the surrounding wording. The English witness supplies a particular sequence and interpretation.
Who pulled whom close, and what is no longer seen in this clause?
قَالَ فَأَشْفَقْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَنْ تَطَأَ يَحْيَى وَكَانَ مِنْهَا قَرِيبًا فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي فَانْصَرَفْتُ إِلَيْهِ فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَإِذَا مِثْلُ الظُّلَّةِ فِيهَا أَمْثَالُ الْمَصَابِيحِ فَخَرَجَتْ حَتَّى لاَ أَرَاهَا.
The Arabic says فَخَرَجَتْ حَتَّى لاَ أَرَاهَا (“it went out/departed until I could no longer see it”); the English witness instead says that he went out in order not to see it.
Is the Arabic subject the canopy-like apparition departing, as provisionally translated, or does the witness reflect a different wording?
قَالَ ابْنُ الْهَادِ وَحَدَّثَنِي هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ خَبَّابٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ عَنْ أُسَيْدِ بْنِ حُضَيْرٍ.
The Arabic ends with an additional transmission from Ibn al-Hād through ʿAbdullāh ibn Khabbāb, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī and Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr; this chain is absent from the English witness.
Does the witness represent a shortened version of the same occurrence?