The Excellent Qualities of the Qur'ān

Translated from Imam Jalāluddīn as-Suyūtī’s book on the Sciences of the Quran called al-Itqān fī Ulūmil Qur’ān.

Especially known to have written on the subject (of the excellent qualities of the Qur’ān) are Abu Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, an-Nasā-ī, Abū ‘Ubayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, Ibn ad-Darees (ابن الضريس) as well as others. The ahādīth that have been narrated concerning both the Quran in general as well as some surahs specifically are well authenticated. The ahādīth that have been recorded on the virtues and merits of the Surahs of the Quran are plenty and due to that I have written a (separate) book and called it Khamā’il az-Zahar fī fadā’il as-Suwar and I had taken the liberty in it to go into such details which is not the subject at present.

I have compiled here narrations in two categories:

The first part that follows is of narrations generally concerning the Quran in its entirety

At-Tirmidhi, ad-Dārimi and others have recorded via al-Hārith al-A’war, from ‘Ali (r.a.):

I heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say: “There will soon be Trials and Tribulations (Fitan).” I asked: O Messenger of Allah! What will be the way out of such fitan? He said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

“The Book of Allah. In it is information concerning what was before you and news concerning what will come after you. It is the firm and unbreakable rope (al-habl al-mateen). It is the ultimate reminder (dhikr) that is Wise (Hakeem). It will be the source of ruling and decisions (Hukm) between yourselves. It is the Decisive Word (al-fasl); there is no jest or fun in it. Anyone who ignores it, be him mighty and powerful, Allah will shatter him. With it, desires and passions do not swerve and tongues are not ambiguous and the ulamā will not have enough of it. It will not be possible to be against most of what it says. Its miracles will not be exhausted. Whoever speaks by it has spoken the truth and whoever acts by it is rewarded, whoever judges and rules by it would have done justice, and whoever calls to it is guided to the straight path.”

Ad-Dārimi has recorded from Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The Quran is dearer to Allah than the samāwāt and the earth and all that is in them.”

Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi have recorded from Shaddād ibn Aws (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“There is not a Muslim who goes to bed reciting a surah from the Book of Allah Most High except that Allah assigns an angel to guard him and nothing that can harm him may come close to him until he wakes up whenever he wakes up.”

Al-Hākim and others have recorded a hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever recites the Quran has spiritually advanced within himself to the station of Prophethood except that he does not receive wahy. To the one who becomes a companion of the Quran there is nothing concerning the dunya that can amuse him and make him proud and arrogant when he is with one who is amused (by the dunya) and he will not be swayed to ignorance when he is with someone who is ignorant (of the akhirah), while the Quran is in his heart.”

Al-Bazzār has recorded a hadith from Anas (r.a.), that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The house in which the Quran is recited, goodness will become abundant and the house in which the Quran is not recited, goodness will become little.”

At-Tabrānī has recorded from ibn ‘Umar (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam said:

“On the Day of Judgment, three whom the Supreme Horror (al-faza’u al-Akbar) will not frighten, whom the reckoning will not overcome and who will be on a dune of musk. They are: the man who recites the Quran seeking Allah’s countenance, and guides a people by it and in whom the people are pleased…” [Only the first has been quoted in this chapter by Imam as-Suyutī]

Abū Ya’lā and at-Tabrānī have recorded a hadith from Abū Hurayrah (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The Quran is a wealth after which there is no poverty and there is no other wealth lesser than it.”

Ahmad and others have recorded a hadith from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“If the Qur’ān is in someone’s skin (fī ihāb), no fire will consume it.” Abū ‘Ubayd said: “what is meant by al-ihāb (lit. skin) is the heart of the believer, and his chest that has the Quran contained in it.” Others have said that it means he who has gathered the Quran within his heart (memorised it and studied it) and yet enter the fire, he is worse than a pig.”

Ibn al-Anbārī said (commenting on the same hadīth): It means the fire will not nullify it, and it will not remove it from the ears that have preserved it, and from the intellects that have received it and grasped it, as His (Allah’s) saying in another hadith: “…I have sent down on you a Book that water will not wash away…” i.e. that water can neither erase it nor pluck it away from the virtuous vessels in which it is contained and from where it rightfully belongs.

With at-Tabrānī is recorded a hadith from ‘Ismat ibn Mālik (r.a.), that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“If the Qur’ān is gathered in one’s skin (ihāb) fire will not burn it.”

And with him (at-Tabrānī) also is recorded a hadith from Sahl ibn Sa’d (r.a.) who narrated that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“If the Qur’ān is in one’s skin, fire will not touch it.”

At-Tabrānī has recorded in his as-Sagheer a hadith from Anas (r.a.), that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever recites the Qur’ān consistently at length, day and night, making halāl what it has made halāl and making harām what it has made harām, Allah will forbid the fire from his flesh and blood, and make him an intimate companion to the noble and devoted scribes (Angels), until when the Day of Qiyāmah comes, the Qur’ān will (itself) be a proof for him.”

Abū ‘Ubayd has recorded a hadith from Anas (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The Qur’ān is an intercessor (shāfi’) and is that which justifies intercession (mushaffi’); it is glorious (mājid) and that which is the source of Truth (musaddiq); whosoever places it in front of him (in his life), it will lead him to the Garden, and whosoever leaves it behind (in his life), it will drive him to the Fire.”

At-Tabrānī has recorded a hadith from Anas (r.a.) who said that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The bearers of the Qur’ān are the Gnostics ('urafā’) of the people of the Garden.”

An-Nasā’ī, Ibn Mājah and al-Hākim have recorded a hadith from Anas (r.a.) who said that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The people of the Qur’ān are the people of Allah and those especially favoured by Him.”

Muslim and others have recorded a hadith from Abū Hurayrah (r.a.) who narrated that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Would anyone of you like to return home to your people and find there three large, bulky and pregnant she-camels?” We said, “Yes,” and he replied, “It would be better for him who recites three verses of the Qur’ān in Salāt than three large, bulky and pregnant she-camels.”

Muslim recorded a hadith from Jābir ibn Abdillah (r.a.) who narrated that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The best of speech is the Book of Allah.”

Ahmad has recorded a hadith from Mu’ādh ibn Anas (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever recites the Qur’ān in the path of Allah (fee sabeelillāh) will be decreed to belong to the Siddīqeen (the most truthful amongst men), and the martyrs (Shuhadā) and the righteous ones (Sāliheen), and what wonderful companions they are!”

At-Tabrānī has recorded a hadith from Abū Hurayrah (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“There is not amongst men one who teaches the Qur’ān to his child except that he will be honoured with a crown on the Day of Qiyāmah (and enter with it) into the Garden of Paradise.”

Abū Dāwūd, Ahmad and al-Hākim have recorded a hadith from Mu’ādh ibn Anas (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever recites the Qur’ān and completes it, and also acts by it, his father (meaning parents) will be crowned on the Day of Qiyāmah, which crown will shine stronger than the light of the Sun if it was placed amongst you in the houses of this world. What then do you think of the one who acts by it (if such is the gift for his parents)!”

At-Tirmidhiy, ibn Mājah and Ahmad have recorded a hadīth from ‘Aliy (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever recites the Qur’ān and knows it by heart (fastazharahu – includes memorising, learning its meanings and acting by it), and makes halāl what it has made halāl and makes harām what it has made harām, Allah will enter him into the Garden and cause it to be a reason for intercession to be granted to ten of his family members who had already been condemned to the Fire.”

At-Tabrāni has recorded a hadith from Abū Umāmah (r.a.) who narrated that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever learns a verse from the Book of Allah, it will come to meet him on the Day of Qiyāmah causing laughter on his face.”

The two Shaykhs (Bukhāri and Muslim) and others have recorded a hadith in which ‘Āishah (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The one who is proficient with the Qur’ān will be with the noble and devoted scribes (angels), and the one who stammers in his recitation of the Qur’ān while it is difficult for him, he has two rewards.”

At-Tabrānī has recorded a hadith in his al-Awsat narrated by Jābir (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever gathers the Qur’ān (reciting it, memorising it, learning its meanings and acting by it), there will be for him in Allah’s presence an accepted du’ā. If he wishes he could use it in this dunyā itself or if he wishes, he can save it to use it in the Hereafter.”

The two Shaykhs have recorded a hadith from Abū Mūsā (r.a.) who narrated that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The example of a believer who recites the Qur’ān is that of a citron which tastes sweet and its smell too is sweet; the example of the believer who does not recite the Qur’ān is that of a date which tastes sweet but has no smell; the example of a wicked and dissolute (fājir) person (and in another narration: a hypocrite) who recites the Qur’ān is that of a sweet basil (raihānah) which smells sweet but has a bitter taste, and the example of a wicked and dissolute person (fājir, and munāfiq in another narration) who does not recite the Qur’ān is that of a colocynth which has no smell and its taste is bitter (and harmful too).”

The two Shaykhs have recorded a hadith from ‘Uthman (r.a.), that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The best of you – and in another narration: the most virtuous of you – is he who learns the Qur’ān and teaches it.” Al-Bayhaqī added the words in the same narration in his al-Asmā: “…and the status of the Qur’ān in comparison to every other speech is that of Allah in comparison to all of His creation.”

At-Tirmidhiy and al-Hākim recorded a hadith from Ibn ‘Abbās (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Surely he in whose heart there is nothing from the Qur’ān is like a house that is wrecked and is in ruins.”

Ibn Mājah has recorded a hadith from Abu Dharr (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him:

“O Abā Dharr! For you to come out in the morning and learn one verse of the Qur’ān is better for you than to perform a hundred rak’ahs …”

At-Tabrānī has recorded a hadith from Ibn ‘Abbās (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever learns the Book of Allah and then follows what is in it, Allah will guide him away from the misguided path and will safeguard him on the Day of Qiyāmah from a woeful reckoning.”

Ibn Abī Shaybah has recorded a hadith from Abū ShurayH al-Khuzā’iy (r.a.) who narrated that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Surely this Qur’ān is a rope one end of which is in Allah’s hand and the other end is in your hands, hold therefore on to it firmly for you will never go astray and you will never perish afterwards.”

Ad-Daylamī has recorded a hadith from ‘Aliy (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The bearers of the Qur’ān will be under the shade of Allah on the Day when there will be no other shade except Allah’s shade.”

Al-Hākim recorded a hadith from Abū Hurayrah (r.a.) who related that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“The companion of the Qur’ān will come on the Day of Judgment and the Qur’ān will say: ‘Ya Rabb! Adorn him,’ and he will be given to wear the Crown of Nobility. It will then say, ‘Ya Rabb! Increase him, Ya Rabb! Be pleased with him and He (Allah) will be pleased with him. It will be said to him, ‘Recite and ascend!” and for every verse a merit will be granted him.”

Al-Hākim, Ahmad, Ibn al-Mubārak (in az-Zuhd), Abū Nu’aym (Hilyah) and al-Bayhaqī (ash-Shu’ab) have recorded a hadith from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (r.a.) who related that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Fasting and the Qur’ān will both intercede for the servant (of Allah).”

Al-Hākim has recorded a hadith from Abū Dharr (r.a.) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Never can you return to Allah with anything better than what has come out from Himself,” meaning the Qur’ān (that has come out from Him to us).

End of Part 1