I was among the delegation from Banu Malik of Thakeef who came to the Prophet ﷺ and accepted Islam. He lodged us in a tent of his, and he would come back and forth to us between his houses and the mosque. When he had prayed the last night prayer, he would come to us, and we would not leave until he had spoken with us. He used to complain about Quraysh and the people of Makkah, then say, "It was not equal. In Makkah we were humiliated and oppressed, but when we migrated to Madinah, the fortunes of war turned for us and against us."One night he stayed away from us and did not come, even after the night prayer, until it grew long upon us.We said, "What kept you from us, Messenger of Allah?"He answered, "A portion of the Quran came due upon me, and I did not wish to leave until I had completed it."So when morning came, we asked the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.We said, "How do you divide the Quran into portions?"They replied, "We divide it as three surahs, five surahs, seven surahs, nine surahs, eleven surahs, thirteen surahs, and the portion of al-Mufassal from Qaf until the end."
قال حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن مهدي حدثنا عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن الطائفي عن عثمان بن عبد الله بن أوس الثقفي
كنت في الوفد الذين أتوا النبي ﷺ أسلموا من ثقيف من بني مالك أنزلنا في قبة له فكان يختلف إلينا بين بيوته وبين المسجد فإذا صلى العشاء الآخرة انصرف إلينا ولا نبرح حتى يحدثنا ويشتكي قريشا ويشتكي أهل مكة ثم يقول لا سواء كنا بمكة مستذلين ومستضعفين فلما خرجنا إلى المدينة كانت سجال الحرب علينا ولنا فمكث عنا ليلة لم يأتنا حتى طال ذلك علينا بعد العشاء قال قلنا ما أمكثك عنا يا رسول الله قال طرأ علي حزب من القرآن فأردت أن لا أخرج حتى أقضيه قال فسألنا أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ حين أصبحنا قال قلنا كيف تحزبون القرآن قالوا نحزبه ثلاث سور وخمس سور وسبع سور وتسع سور وإحدى عشرة سورة وثلاث عشرة سورة وحزب المفصل من قاف حتى يختم