When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave the order for a bell to be made so that it could be struck to gather the people for prayer, a man came to me in my sleep carrying a bell in his hand.I said to him, "Abdullah, will you sell me this bell?"He asked, "What will you do with it?"I said, "We will use it to call people to prayer."He said, "Shall I not show you something better than that?"I replied, "Yes, please."He said, "You should say, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer, come to prayer. Come to success, come to success. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah."Then he stepped back a short distance from me and said, "And when you stand up to begin the prayer you should say, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer, come to success. The prayer is about to begin, the prayer is about to begin. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah."When morning came, I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and told him what I had seen.He said, "It is a true vision, Allah willing. Stand with Bilal and teach him what you saw so he may call the prayer with it, for his voice carries farther than yours."So I stood with Bilal, teaching him the words while he called them out as the adhan. Umar bin Khattab heard this from inside his house and came out dragging his cloak, saying, "By the One who sent you with the truth, Messenger of Allah, I have seen the very same thing he saw."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "All praise belongs to Allah."
حدثنا محمد بن منصور الطوسي حدثنا يعقوب حدثنا أبي عن محمد بن إسحق حدثني محمد بن إبراهيم بن الحارث التيمي عن محمد بن عبد الله بن زيد بن عبد ربه قال
لما أمر رسول الله ﷺ بالناقوس يعمل ليضرب به للناس لجمع الصلاة طاف بي وأنا نائم رجل يحمل ناقوسا في يده فقلت يا عبد الله أتبيع الناقوس قال وما تصنع به فقلت ندعو به إلى الصلاة قال أفلا أدلك على ما هو خير من ذلك فقلت له بلى قال فقال تقول الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله أشهد أن محمدا رسول الله أشهد أن محمدا رسول الله حي على الصلاة حي على الصلاة حي على الفلاح حي على الفلاح الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله قال ثم استأخر عني غير بعيد ثم قال وتقول إذا أقمت الصلاة الله أكبر الله أكبر أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله أشهد أن محمدا رسول الله حي على الصلاة حي على الفلاح قد قامت الصلاة قد قامت الصلاة الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله فلما أصبحت أتيت رسول الله ﷺ فأخبرته بما رأيت فقال إنها لرؤيا حق إن شاء الله فقم مع بلال فألق عليه ما رأيت فليؤذن به فإنه أندى صوتا منك فقمت مع بلال فجعلت ألقيه عليه ويؤذن به قال فسمع ذلك عمر بن الخطاب وهو في بيته فخرج يجر رداءه ويقول والذي بعثك بالحق يا رسول الله لقد رأيت مثل ما رأى فقال رسول الله ﷺ فلله الحمد
Its isnad is hasan. Ibn Majah narrated it in the Book of Adhan, chapter on the beginning of the adhan, hadith 706, from the hadith of Ibn Ishaq through this route. Tirmidhi graded it sahih, hadith 189, as did Ibn Khuzayma, hadith 371, and Ibn Hibban, hadith 287, and others.