Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man recited a verse. I had recited that verse differently from him. I asked him: Who taught you to recite this verse? He replied: The Messenger of Allah taught me to recite it. Sayyiduna Ubayy says: I went to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! You taught me to recite such and such verses. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! That man said: You taught me to recite such and such verses. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! Jibreel and Mikaeel came to me. Jibreel sat on my right side and Mikaeel sat on my left side. Jibreel said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), recite the Qur'an according to one mode (harf). Mikaeel said: Ask for more. So I said: Tell me more ways. Then Jibreel said: Recite it according to two modes. Mikaeel said: Ask for more, until it reached seven modes. Then Jibreel said: Recite it up to seven modes. Each of them is sufficient and complete.

Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was in the area of Idhah Banu Ghifar (this is a place near Makkah Mukarramah). Sayyiduna Jibreel (peace be upon him) said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Indeed, Allah Almighty has commanded you to teach your Ummah the recitation of the Qur'an according to one mode. So the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I ask Allah Almighty for His pardon and His forgiveness (the narrator is in doubt, perhaps these are the words:) His help and His pardon. Then ask Allah for ease for these people, because they will not be able to bear it. Jibreel went back, then he returned and said: Indeed, Allah Almighty has commanded you to teach your Ummah the recitation of the Qur'an according to two modes. So the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I ask Allah Almighty for His pardon and His forgiveness (the narrator is in doubt, perhaps these are the words:) His help and His pardon. Then request ease for these people, because they will not be able to bear it. Jibreel went back, then he returned and said: Indeed, Allah Almighty has commanded you to teach your Ummah to recite this Qur'an in three modes. So the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I ask Allah Almighty for His pardon and His forgiveness (the narrator is in doubt, perhaps these are the words:) His help and His pardon. Then request ease for them, because they will not be able to bear it. Jibreel went back, then he returned and said: Indeed, Allah Almighty has commanded you that you may recite this Qur'an in seven modes. Whoever recites in any one of them, he will have recited correctly.

Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) met Sayyiduna Jibreel (peace be upon him), so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "I have been sent to an unlettered nation among whom are boys and girls, old women and old men." So Jibreel said: "Guide them that they may recite according to any one of the seven modes."

Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I was sitting in the mosque when a man entered and began to recite (the Qur'an). His recitation seemed unfamiliar to me. Then another man came and he recited differently from his companion. Then he completed his prayer. Then both of them went to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). So I said: O Messenger of Allah! This person has recited in a manner that seemed unfamiliar to me, then the other person recited differently from his companion. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to both of them: Recite. They recited, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Both of you have recited well. (The narrator is in doubt, perhaps these are the words:) You have recited correctly. The narrator says: When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said this to both of them, it was very hard on me. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) noticed what had come into my mind, he struck his hand on my chest, and it felt to me as if I were looking towards my Lord at that moment. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: O Ubayy! Indeed, my Lord has sent me a message that you should recite the Qur'an according to one mode (harf), but I requested Him twice to make it easy for my Ummah, so He commanded me that you may recite it according to seven modes (ahruf), and for every time you requested again, I grant you the right to ask (intercede) on the Day of Resurrection. I requested: O my Lord! Forgive my Ummah. Then I postponed the second supplication for that Day when the creation will be in need of it, until even Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) will be in need of it.

Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surah Furqan in a way different from the way I recite it. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) himself taught me this Surah. At first, I was about to attack him, but then I waited. When he completed the prayer, I grabbed him by his cloak and took him to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: I have heard this person reciting Surah Furqan in a manner different from the way you taught me to recite it. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Recite. He recited in the same way as I had heard him. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This verse was revealed in this way. Then he said to me: Recite. I recited, and he said: It was revealed in this way. Indeed, this Qur'an was revealed upon seven modes, so recite in whichever of them is easy for you.

Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Qur'an has been revealed on seven modes (ahruf)."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The Qur'an was revealed upon seven letters." (These words of the narration are:) The Wise, The Knowledgeable, The Forgiving, The Merciful. These are the words of Muhammad bin Amr, which have been included in the text of the narration. The original narration contains only the words up to "seven letters."

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man used to write for the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He held an important position among us. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dictated to him: "The Forgiving, the Merciful," but he wrote: "The Pardoning, the Forgiving." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write this." He then dictated to him: "The All-Knowing, the Wise," but he wrote: "The All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write whichever of the two you wish." Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Then he left Islam and became an apostate, joining the polytheists. He said: "I know more about Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) than all of you, for I could write whatever I wished." Then he died. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed of this, he said: "The earth will not accept him." The narrator states: Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) related this incident. I came to the land where that man had died, and I learned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said this about him. I found him lying outside his grave. I inquired: "What is the matter with him?" The people said: "We buried him, but the earth did not accept him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):“Previously, a book would be revealed from one door according to one letter, but the Qur’an has been revealed from seven doors according to seven letters (they are): ‘Warner, Commanding, Lawful, Unlawful, Definitive, Allegorical, and Parables.’ So you should declare its lawful as lawful, its unlawful as unlawful, act upon what you have been commanded in it, and refrain from what you have been forbidden from. Take lesson from its parables, act upon its commands, have faith in its allegorical verses, and say: ‘We believe in it. All of it is from our Lord.’”

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard a man reciting a verse; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had taught me to recite that verse, but that man was reciting it in a different manner. I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was whispering something to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). I mentioned this matter to him, so Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) turned towards us and said: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah has commanded you people to recite in the manner in which you have been taught.