In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the salaf.
Between speech and action.
The state of the salaf regarding the Qur'an and its instruction.
And its impact upon them.
Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to—
whenever Abu Musa sat with him—
often say to him:
"Remind us, O Abu Musa."
So he would recite.
And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him:
He said:
'Uyaynah ibn Hisn ibn Hudhayfah arrived,
and he stayed with his nephew, al-Hurr ibn Qays.
He was among those whom Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to bring close to him.
The reciters (Qurra') were the members of Umar's councils and his consultants,
whether they were mature men or youths.
'Uyaynah said to his nephew:
"O my nephew,
do you have influence with this leader?
Seek permission for me to see him."
He said:
"I will seek permission for you."
Ibn Abbas said:
So al-Hurr sought permission for 'Uyaynah,
and Umar granted it.
When he entered upon him, he said:
"O Ibn al-Khattab,
by Allah, you do not give us much,
nor do you judge between us with justice."
Umar became angry,
to the point that he intended to strike him.
Al-Hurr said to him:
"O Commander of the Faithful,
Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet, peace be upon him:
﴿Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good,﴾
﴿and turn away from the ignorant.﴾
And this man is one of the ignorant."
By Allah, Umar did not go beyond this verse when he recited it to him;
he was one who would stop at the Book of Allah.
Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, met
Nafi' ibn 'Abd al-Harith at 'Usfan,
and Umar had appointed him over Makkah.
He asked, "Whom have you appointed over the people of the valley?"
He replied, "Ibn Abza."
He asked, "And who is Ibn Abza?"
He said, "One of our freed slaves."
He said, "You have appointed a freed slave over them?"
He replied, "He is a reciter of the Book of Allah the Almighty,
and he is knowledgeable about the laws of inheritance."
Umar said:
"Indeed, your Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
'Verily, Allah raises some people by this Book,
and lowers others by it.'"
And from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
"The bearer of the Qur'an should be known by his night
when people are sleeping,
and by his day when people are breaking their fast,
and by his sadness when people are joyful,
and by his weeping when people are laughing,
and by his silence when people are gossiping,
and by his humility when people are arrogant."
"It is fitting for the bearer of the Qur'an
to be weeping, sorrowful,
forbearing, wise, and quiet.
It is not fitting for the bearer of the Qur'an to be harsh, heedless,
nor clamorous, loud-mouthed, or hot-tempered."
He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
"These hearts are vessels,
so occupy them with the Qur'an,
and do not occupy them with anything else."
He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
"If you desire knowledge, then stir up the Qur'an,
for in it is the knowledge of the first and the last."
A man said to him:
"I recite the Mufassal (surahs) in one rak'ah."
He said to him, "Like the reciting of poetry?
There are people who recite the Qur'an, but it does not pass their throats;
but if it settles in the heart and takes root, it brings benefit."
And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, who said:
"That I recite Surah al-Baqarah and chant it (with tartil)
is more beloved to me than reciting the entire Qur'an."
And from Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
"We learned the Qur'an from a people who informed us
that when they learned ten verses,
they would not move on to the next ten
until they learned what was in them.
So we learned the Qur'an and how to act upon it.
And after us, a people will inherit the Qur'an
who will drink it down like water,
but it will not pass their throats."
He, may Allah have mercy on him, recited the Qur'an in the mosque for forty years.
Some of the salaf said:
"Whoever wishes to know who he is,
let him present himself to the Qur'an."
Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym al-Muqri', may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"This Qur'an is magnificent;
it came from the Magnificent.
So when you recite it,
do not be occupied with anything else,
and consider whom you are addressing."
Ibn Kathir al-Muqri', may Allah have mercy on him, used to—
when his students wanted to recite—
gather them and exhort them,
and say:
"I only do this
so that you may approach the recitation of the Qur'an
with humble hearts,
submissive souls,
and tearful eyes."
When Abdullah ibn Idris
al-Muqri', may Allah have mercy on him, was dying,
his daughter wept.
He said to her, "Do not weep,
for I have completed the Qur'an in this house
four thousand times."
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"It is grievous to me that the world should consume the hearts of men
while the Qur'an is in their chests."
And the Qadi Abdullah ibn Talib, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"True honor belongs to the one who possesses the Qur'an and knowledge;
this is the honorable one.
As for the one who possesses the honor of authority,
he is not truly honorable."
Al-Fadl al-Raqashi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The worshippers have not found pleasure,
and their hearts have not taken flight for anything,
like the beauty of a voice reciting the Qur'an.
And every heart that does not respond to the beauty of a voice reciting the Qur'an
is a dead heart."
Al-Fadl also said:
"And what eye does not shed tears at a beautiful voice,
except the eye of one who is heedless or distracted?"
Iyas ibn Mu'awiyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The likeness of those who recite the Qur'an
while not knowing its Tafsir
is like a people to whom a letter from their king came at night,
and they had no lamp,
so they were filled with awe,
yet they did not know what was in the letter.
And the likeness of one who knows the Tafsir
is like a man who brought them a lamp,
so they read what was in the letter."
And from al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
"Whoever recites the Qur'an will not suffer from senility."
Khaythamah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, may Allah have mercy on him,
used to complete the Qur'an every three days.
Ibn Muhayriz, may Allah have mercy on him,
used to complete the Qur'an every seven days.
And from 'Ammar ibn 'Umar al-Bajali, who said:
"We went out with Muhammad ibn al-Nadr al-Harithi,
may Allah have mercy on him, to Makkah.
We would not wake up at any hour of the night
but that he was sitting on his camel reciting."
He said, "We used to think
that he did not sleep until he entered Makkah."
He said, "And when he would stop,
he would be in the service of his companions."
It was said to him, 'O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman,
we will take care of this for you.'
He would come to them and say:
'Are you depriving me of the reward?'"
And from Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him:
He used to complete the Qur'an once every seven nights.
When Ramadan arrived,
he would complete it once every three nights.
And when the last ten days arrived,
he would complete it once every night.
And from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, may Allah have mercy on him:
He used to complete the Qur'an every two nights.
Malik ibn Dinar,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"When the Qur'an is recited to the truthful ones,
their hearts yearn for the Hereafter."
He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
"O bearers of the Qur'an,
what has the Qur'an planted in your hearts?
For the Qur'an is the spring of the believer,
just as rain is the spring of the earth.
For Allah sends down rain from the sky
to the earth, and it reaches the seed,
and the grain is within it;
the foulness of its location does not prevent it
from stirring, turning green, and becoming beautiful.
So, O bearers of the Qur'an,
what has it planted in your hearts?
Where are the people of one surah?
Where are the people of two surahs?
What have you done with them?"
Muhammad ibn Wasi', may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The Qur'an is the garden of the gnostics (those who know Allah).
So where are those who have found sweetness in it?"
Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The bearer of the Qur'an
is the bearer of the banner of Islam.
It is not fitting for him to engage in idle talk with those who do,
nor to play with those who play,
nor to be heedless with those who are heedless."
Wahib Ibn al-Ward, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
We examined this hadith,
and we found nothing more softening to these hearts,
nor more effective at drawing one toward the truth,
than the recitation of the Qur'an for one who reflects upon it.
Some of the salaf said:
I used to recite the Qur'an without finding its sweetness,
so I said to myself:
"Recite it as if you are hearing it
from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
And a little sweetness came to me.
Then I said to myself:
"Recite it as if you are hearing it
from Jibril, peace be upon him,
when he was conveying it to the Prophet, peace be upon him."
He said: "Then the sweetness increased."
Then I said to myself:
"Recite it as if you are hearing it
at the moment Allah spoke it."
He said: "Then the sweetness became complete."