Tāwūs told in mursal form that when the Prophet was asked who had the most beautiful voice for the Qur’ān and whose recitation was most beautiful he replied, "The one of whom you think when you hear him recite that he fears God.”Tāwūs added that Talq* was like that. * A companion of the Prophet who belonged to al-Yamāma. Dārimī transmitted it.

‘Abīda al-Mulaikī who was a Companion reported God’s messenger as saying, "Do not make the Qur’ān a pillow,* but recite it as it deserves to be recited during the night and the day. Recite it aloud, chant it and consider its contents, perhaps you may prosper; but do not seek to get reward for it in this world, for it provides rewards.”(i.e., in the next world) *A figure of speech warning against laziness or neglect. Baihaqi trans­mitted it in Shu'ab' al-īmān.

‘Umar b. al-Khattab said:I heard Hishām b. Hakīm b. Hizām reciting sūra al-Furqān (Qur’ān, 25) in a different manner from my way of reciting it, and God’s messenger had taught me to recite it. I nearly spoke sharply to him, but I delayed till he had finished, and then catching his cloak at the neck I brought him to God’s messenger and said,“Messen­ger of God, I heard this man reciting sūra al-Furqān in a manner different from that in which you taught me to recite it.”He told me to let him go and told him to recite. When he recited it in the manner in which I had heard him recite it God's messenger said,“Thus was it sent down.”He then told me to recite it and when I had done so he said,“Thus was it sent down. The Qur’ān was sent down in seven modes of reading, so recite according to what comes most easily.”(Bukhārī and Muslim, the wording being Muslim’s.)

Ibn Mas’ūd said:I heard a man who recited, and as I had heard the Prophet reciting differently I took him to the Prophet and told him and noticed that he gave a disapproving look. He then said,“Both of you are doing it well, so do not disagree, for your predecessors disagreed and perished.”Bukhārī transmitted it.

Ubayy b. Kā'b said:When I was in the mosque a man entered and prayed and recited in a manner to which I objected. Afterwards a man entered and recited in a manner different from the other. When we had finished the prayer we all went to visit God’s messenger, and I said,“This man recited in a manner to which I objected and the other entered and recited in a manner different from his.”The Prophet then commanded them to recite, and when they had done so he expressed approval of both of them. This made me inclined to tell him he was wrong, even to an extent I had never reached in the pre-Islamic period; and when God’s messenger noticed how I was affected he gave me a pat on the chest, whereupon I broke into a sweat and was filled with fear as though I were looking at God. He then said to me,“A message was sent to me, Ubayy, to recite the Qur’ān in one mode, but when I replied that I wished matters to be made easy for my people, a second message instructed me to recite it in two modes. Again I replied that I wished matters to be made easy for my people, and a third message instructed me to recite it in seven modes, I being told at the same time that I might ask something for each reply I had received. I therefore said, ‘O God, forgive my people. O God, forgive my people;’ and I have delayed the third request till the day when all creatures, even including Abraham, seek my intercession." Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbās reported God’s messenger as saying,“Gabriel taught me to recite in one mode, and when I replied to him and kept asking him to give me more he did so till he reached seven modes." Ibn Shihāb said he had heard that those seven modes are essentially one, not differing about what is permitted and what is prohibited. (Bukhārī and Muslim.)

Ubayy b. Ka‘b told of God’s messenger meeting Gabriel and saying,“I have been sent, Gabriel, to a people who are unlettered, among whom are old women and old men, boys and girls, and men who have never read a book.”He replied,“The Qur’ān, Muhammad, has been sent down in seven modes." In a version by Ahmad and Abū Dāwūd he said,“They include only what is sufficiently health-giving.”In a version by Nasā’i the Prophet is quoted as saying that Gabriel and Michael came to him, and when Gabriel had sat down at his right and Michael at his left, Gabriel told him to recite the Qur’ān in one mode, and Michael told him to ask more, till he reached seven modes, each mode being sufficiently health-giving. Tirmidhī transmitted it.

‘Imran b. Husain said that when he came upon a story-teller who was reciting the Qur’ān and then asking for payment he first uttered the words,“We belong to God and to Him do we return”and then told that he had heard God’s messenger say,“When anyone recites the Qur’ān, let him ask a reward for it from God, for people will arise who will recite the Qur’ān and ask a reward for it from men.”Ahmad and Tirmidhī transmitted it.

Buraida reported God’s messenger as saying,“If anyone recites the Qur’ān seeking thereby to get a living from people, he will come on the day of resurrection with his face as a fleshless bone.”Baihaqi trans­mitted it in Shu’ab al-īmān.

Ibn ‘Abbās said that God's messenger did not know where sūras were to be separated till“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,”was sent down. Abū Dāwūd transmitted it.