Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah

Hazrat Shaqiq narrates that Naheek bin Sinan came to the service of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked, “How do you recite this letter (Qira’at)? « ماء غير اٰسن » or « ياسن »?” He replied, “Have you memorized (committed to memory) the entire Qur’an besides this?” He said, “Indeed, I recite all the Mufassal surahs in a single rak’ah.” So Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Then you must be reciting very quickly, just as poetry is recited quickly. Surely, some people recite the Qur’an with their tongues, but it does not go below their throats. But when the Qur’an enters the heart and becomes firmly established in it, then it benefits. And indeed, the best prayer is to perform more bowing and prostration. And indeed, I know those similar surahs which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite two by two in one rak’ah.” Then he took the hand of Alqamah and went inside, then came out and counted those surahs for us. Hazrat A’mash says that according to the compilation of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), they are twenty surahs. The first of them is Surah « الرحمٰن » and the last is Surah « الدخان ». Surah « الرحمٰن » and Surah « النجم », Surah « الذاريات » and Surah « الطور » are similar surahs. (Other similar surahs are) Surah « القمر » and Surah « الحاقة », Surah « الواقعة » and Surah « القلم », Surah « النازعات » and Surah « المعارج », Surah « المدثر » and Surah « المزمل », Surah « للمطففين » and Surah « عبس », Surah « القيامه », Surah « الدهر », Surah « المرسلات », Surah « النبإ », Surah « الشمس », Surah « الدخان ». The Imam narrates from his teachers, Hazrat Abu Musa, Yusuf bin Musa, and Salm bin Junadah, with the chain from A’mash. All the teachers have narrated the complete hadith up to these words. Then when Alqamah went inside and asked Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), then came out to us, he said, “(Those similar surahs) according to the compilation of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), are twenty surahs from the beginning of the Mufassal surahs.” He did not narrate more than this.