Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me Surah Ar-Rahman. One day, I came to the mosque in the evening, and some people came and sat near me. I said to one of them: Recite (the Qur'an) before me. So he recited some words in a manner that I had not learned. I asked: Who taught you this recitation? He replied: The Messenger of Allah taught me this recitation. Then we set out and presented ourselves before the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: We have differed regarding the recitation. Upon hearing this, the blessed face of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) changed, and when I mentioned the difference, he was greatly saddened by it. He said: The people before you were destroyed because of their differences. Then he instructed Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah commands you that each of you should recite in the manner in which he was taught, because the people before you were destroyed due to their differences. The narrator says: Then we left from there, and each of us would recite in the manner he had learned, and his companion would not recite in his manner.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) recited (the Qur'an) on the occasion of the conquest of Makkah, and during this recitation, he recited with tarji‘ (repetition of the voice). The narrator named Muawiyah states: If I did not fear that people would gather around me, I would have demonstrated this way of recitation.

Sayyiduna Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Beautify the Qur'an with your voices." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) These are the words from which a contradictory meaning is sometimes taken. What is meant by the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is: You should beautify the Qur'an with your voices, not that you should beautify your voices with the Qur'an.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Adorn the Qur'an with your voices."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Allah does not listen to anything as attentively as He listens to the Prophet who recites the Qur’an with a pleasant voice.”

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him),“He should recite the Qur’an with a pleasant voice,”means to recite it with heartfelt emotion. If this was derived from“ghina”(i.e., melodiousness), then he would have said:“yataghanā bihi,”not“yataghanā bihi.”Reciting the Qur’an with a sorrowful tone does not mean to put a strain on the throat, or to beautify the voice, or to create ups and downs in the voice by following musical tunes. Reciting the Qur’an with a sorrowful tone means that two things accompany the recitation: expressing regret, being sorrowful, expressing remorse over the mistakes one has committed, and being saddened over the honor one desires. When the heart feels pain and distress, the voice becomes sorrowful and it trembles, the eyes shed tears, and the heart becomes illuminated. In such a state, the one who prays Tahajjud along with supplication will feel delight, and that person, fleeing from creation, will come into the nest of seclusion (i.e., its refuge). Hoping that his past sins will be forgiven, his crimes and faults will be overlooked. We ask Allah Almighty for His guidance.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates: The Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:“Allah does not listen to anything as attentively as He listens to the recitation of the Qur’an in a pleasant voice, which is recited aloud.”

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The meaning of the Prophet’s statement ‘ma azina Allah’ is that Allah does not listen to anything as attentively. ‘Kaznihi’ means: just as He listens to the person who recites the Qur’an melodiously, who recites it aloud. What is meant by this is: he recites in a heartfelt manner, as is appropriate, the description of which we have mentioned.

Mutarrif bin Abdullah narrates from his father: I saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performing prayer. Due to weeping and lamentation, a sound was coming from his chest like the boiling of a pot. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In this narration, there is a clear statement that the kind of sorrowful recitation which Allah Almighty listens to and listens to with full attention is such pain that is present in the voice at both the beginning and the end, because the beginning is that a firm intention is made to abstain from prohibited things, and the end is that full effort is made in various types of worship. So when that pain at the beginning is as we have described, and the end is as I have mentioned, then the person who is sorrowful with the Qur'an, it is as if he places himself in the closeness of his Lord, and he is not concerned with anything else besides that.

Sayyiduna Fadala bin Ubaid (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "As eagerly as a person listens to the singing of a slave girl, Allah Almighty listens with even greater pleasure to the recitation of the Qur'an by a person with a beautiful voice."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "After sixty years, there will come people who will neglect the prayer and follow their desires; soon they will enter Hell. Then after them, there will come people who will recite the Qur'an, but it will not go below their throats. Three types of people recite the Qur'an: the believer, the hypocrite, and the wicked."

The narrator named Basheer says: I asked Waleed: Who are these three people? He replied: The hypocrite is the one who denies the Qur'an, the wicked is the one who takes compensation for it, and the believer is the one who has faith in it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once I compiled the Qur'an and recited it all in one night. When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed of this, he said: Recite the entire Qur'an in a month. The narrator says: I submitted, O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to benefit from my strength and youth. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Recite the entire Qur'an in twenty days. I submitted, O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to benefit from my strength and youth. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Recite it in ten days. I submitted, O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to benefit from my strength and youth. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Recite it in seven days. I submitted, O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to benefit from my strength and youth, but the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did not accept this from me.