Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 8390 — Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him)

Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him), and Khaythamah bin Abd al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him) through Qays bin Marwan, both say: A man came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: O Commander of the Believers, I have left behind in Iraq a man who dictates mushafs from memory. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) became angry until his face turned red, and he said several times: Look at what you are saying! The man said: I am telling you nothing but the truth. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Who is he? He said: Ibn Umm Abd. (On hearing this) he calmed down until his anger left him, then he said: There is no one on the face of the earth more entitled to that than him, and I will tell you about that: One night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed up talking for a long while in the house of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) about some matter, until the night was well advanced. Then he returned, with Abu Bakr and me with him (peace and blessings be upon him), until we reached the mosque, and we saw a man of the Muhajirun praying. He (peace and blessings be upon him) stood listening to his recitation, and neither I nor my companion knew who he was. When he had stood for a while, I said: O Messenger of Allah, it is a man of the Muhajirun praying; it would be better if you went back, for the night is well advanced. He (peace and blessings be upon him) signalled to me to be quiet, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) listened attentively to his recitation. Then he bowed and prostrated, then sat supplicating, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to say: "Ask and you will be given, ask and you will be given." Neither I nor my companion knew who he was, until we heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever would love to recite the Qur'an fresh, just as it was revealed, let him recite the way Ibn Umm Abd recites." He said: "That was when my companion and I came to know who he was." He said: "Then I went early in the morning to Abdullah to give him the glad tiding, and he said: Abu Bakr has already come before you. (Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:) And by Allah, whenever I tried to race ahead of Abu Bakr in any good deed, he always got there before me."