Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Sayyiduna Usaid bin Hudair (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that one night I was reciting Surah Al-Baqarah and my horse was tied near me. Suddenly, the horse began to startle, so I stopped reciting and the horse calmed down. Then I started reciting again and the horse startled once more. Again, when I stopped reciting, the horse became quiet. The third time, when I began reciting, the horse startled again. Since my son Yahya was close to the horse, I feared he might get hurt, so I stopped reciting and moved the child away from there. Then I looked up but saw nothing. In the morning, I related this incident to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Ibn Hudair, you should have kept reciting and not stopped (that would have been better)." I said, "O Messenger of Allah, I was afraid the horse might trample my son Yahya, as he was very close to it. I raised my head and then went towards Yahya. Then I raised my head towards the sky and saw something like a canopy with lamps in it. When I went out again, I did not see it." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do you know what that was?" Sayyiduna Usaid (may Allah be pleased with him) replied, "No." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Those were angels who had come near to listen to your voice. If you had continued reciting all night, people would have seen them in the morning; they would not have remained hidden from the people."