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"Enough" — and his eyes were full of tears

Date
Madinan period · date unknown
Location
Madinah
People
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (RA)

'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (RA) narrates in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet ﷺ asked him to recite the Qur'an to him; when he reached 4:41 — "How will it be when We bring from every nation a witness, and bring you as a witness over these?" — the Prophet ﷺ said "Enough", and his eyes were shedding tears.

As it was narrated

The story, in the words of those who were there

Read slowly. These are the Companions' own words, from the verified hadith collections.

Hadith
Hadith collection

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَبِيدَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ قَالَ لِي النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ اقْرَأْ عَلَىَّ ‏"‏‏.‏ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ آقْرَأُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَيْكَ أُنْزِلَ قَالَ ‏"‏ نَعَمْ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَقَرَأْتُ سُورَةَ النِّسَاءِ حَتَّى أَتَيْتُ إِلَى هَذِهِ الآيَةِ ‏{‏فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جِئْنَا مِنْ كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ بِ…

Narrated `Abdullah bin Mas`ud:The Prophet (ﷺ) said to me, "Recite (the Qur'an) to me." I said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) Shall I recite (the Qur'an) to you while it has been revealed to you?" He said, "Yes." So I recited Surat-An-Nisa' (The Women), but when I recited the Verse: 'How (will it be) then when We bring from each nation a witness and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these people.' (4.41) He said, "Enough for the present," I looked at him and behold! His eyes were overflowing with tears

Sahih al-Bukhari · Hadith 5050 · Virtues of the Qur'an
Translation: Sahih al-Bukhari — English. Hadith data: fawazahmed0/hadith-api (numbering and gradings as published there).

Grading information unavailable in source data · from a collection regarded as sahih

Open source

What Allah revealed

Qur'an
Qur'an

فَكَيۡفَ إِذَا جِئۡنَا مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةِۭ بِشَهِيدٖ وَجِئۡنَا بِكَ عَلَىٰ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ شَهِيدٗا

So how [will it be] when We bring from every nation a witness and we bring you, [O Muhammad] against these [people] as a witness

Surah An-Nisa (The Women) · 4:41
Translation: Sahih International. Qur'an text: Uthmani script (The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia, quranenc.com), distributed via quran-json.
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Lessons

  • He ﷺ loved listening to the Qur'an from others.
  • Let the Qur'an reach the heart, not only the tongue.

Lessons are editorial reflections drawn from the event and its sources.

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Bibliography

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 5050 ('Abdullah ibn Mas'ud) · primary source
  • Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum (further reading)

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