It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that I heard a man reciting Surah Al-Ahqaf; he was reciting it in a different manner. Another man was reciting it in another way, which was different from his companion, and I was reciting it in a third way, different from the way both of them were reciting. We went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him about it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became angry, the color of his blessed face changed, and he said: "Do not differ, for those before you were destroyed because of their differences." Zur says that there was a man sitting with them, he said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commands you that each of you should recite the Qur'an as he has been taught, for it was only differences that destroyed those before you. Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I do not know whether this was something the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specifically stated to them or if it was his own opinion.