Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
فضائل سور القرآن وآياته
ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān—namely, Ibn Yazīd aṣ-Ṣanʿānī—said: I heard Ibn ʿUmar say that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Whoever would like to see the Day of Resurrection as though he were seeing it with his own eyes, let him recite “When the sun is folded up” (Sūrat at-Takwīr), “When the heaven is split open” (Sūrat al-Infiṭār), and “When the heaven is split asunder” (Sūrat al-Inshiqāq).’ This is a ḥasan gharīb hadith. Hishām ibn Yūsuf and others narrated this hadith with the same chain and said: ‘Whoever would like to see the Day of Resurrection as though he were seeing it with his own eyes, let him recite “When the sun is folded up” (Sūrat at-Takwīr)’; they did not mention ‘When the heaven is split open’ or ‘When the heaven is split asunder’.
Translation notes
وَرَوَى هِشَامُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ وَغَيْرُهُ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ بِهَذَا الإِسْنَادِ وَقَالَ مَنْ سَرَّهُ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ كَأَنَّهُ رَأْىُ عَيْنٍ فَلْيَقْرَأْ (إذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ) وَلَمْ يَذْكُرْ و (إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ ) وَ (إذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ ).
The Arabic includes a compiler’s report of a variant narration that mentions only Sūrat at-Takwīr and explicitly says the other two surahs were not mentioned; the English witness omits this entire report.
Should the variant report be retained in the translated hadith text?
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the first rakʿah of the witr prayer ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā), in the second ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn), and in the third ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
Samurah ibn Jundub reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the Friday prayer ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā) and ‘Has the account of the Overwhelming Event come to you?’ (Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah).
An-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the Friday prayer ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā) and ‘Has the account of the Overwhelming Event come to you?’ (Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah). Sometimes Eid and Friday coincided, and he would recite these in both prayers.
Samurah ibn Jundub reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the Friday prayer ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā) and ‘Has the account of the Overwhelming Event come to you?’ (Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah).
An-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the Friday prayer ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā) and ‘Has the account of the Overwhelming Event come to you?’ (Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah). Sometimes Eid and Friday coincided, and he would recite these in both prayers.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would pray two rakʿahs after witr while seated, reciting in them ‘When the earth is shaken…’ (Sūrat az-Zalzalah) and ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn).
Abū Madīnah ad-Dārimī said: ‘When two men among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ met, they would not part until one of them recited to the other, “By time, indeed mankind is in loss,” and then one of them would greet the other with salām.’
Farwah ibn Nawfal reported from his father that the Prophet ﷺ said to Nawfal: ‘Recite “Say: O disbelievers” (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn), then sleep after completing it, for it is a disavowal of shirk.’
Translation notes
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ لِنَوْفَلٍ
The Arabic gives the Prophet’s instruction to Nawfal directly; the English witness adds a request for bedtime advice and another report with an attribution and reference that are not part of this Arabic text.
Should these additional witness narratives remain excluded from the translation of this source text?
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘“Say: O disbelievers” (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) is equivalent to one-quarter of the Qur’an.’
Translation notes
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (قل يا أيها الكافرون تعدل ربع القرآن).
The Arabic mentions only Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and says it equals one-quarter of the Qur’an; the English witness combines this with a separate claim about Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ equaling one-third.
Should the English witness’s additional claim be excluded from this source’s translation?
Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited in the two rakʿahs of the dawn prayer ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) and ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd said: ‘I cannot count how many times I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recite in the two rakʿahs after Maghrib and the two rakʿahs before the dawn prayer: “Say: O disbelievers” (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) and “Say: He is Allah, the One” (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).’
Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited in the two dawn-prayer rakʿahs ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) and ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited in the two rakʿahs of ṭawāf the two sūrahs of seeking refuge: ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) and ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
Translation notes
عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ،
The Arabic names the narrator as Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh, while the English witness shortens this to Jābir.
Should the witness’s shortened narrator name be noted?
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the first rakʿah of witr ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā), in the second ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn), and in the third ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
Abū ad-Dardāʾ reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Is any one of you unable to recite one-third of the Qur’an in a night?’ They said, ‘How can anyone recite one-third of the Qur’an?’ He replied, ‘“Say: He is Allah, the One” (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ) is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’an.’
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī reported that a man heard another man repeatedly reciting ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ). The next morning, he came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and told him about it, as though he considered the recitation too little. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘By the One in whose hand is my soul, it is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’an.’
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; ʿAffān narrated to us; and Abān al-ʿAṭṭār narrated to us—all from Qatādah with this same chain. In both of their narrations, the Prophet’s words are: ‘Allah divided the Qur’an into three parts and made “Say: He is Allah, the One” one of the parts of the Qur’an.’
Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Gather, for I will recite one-third of the Qur’an to you.’ Those who could gathered. Then the Prophet of Allah ﷺ came out and recited ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ), then went inside. Some of us said to one another, ‘It seems that news has come to him from heaven; that is what made him go inside.’ Then the Prophet of Allah ﷺ came out and said: ‘I told you that I would recite one-third of the Qur’an to you. Indeed, it is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’an.’
Anas reported that a man said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I love this sūrah—“Say: He is Allah, the One” (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).’ He ﷺ replied: ‘Your love for it will admit you into Paradise.’