I came to Syria, prayed two units of prayer, and then said, "Allah, grant me a righteous companion to sit with." I went over to a group of people and sat down with them, and then an elderly man came and sat beside me.I asked, "Who is this?"They said, "Abu Darda."So I said to him, "I asked Allah to grant me a righteous companion to sit with, and He granted me you."He asked, "Where are you from?"I said, "I am from the people of Kufa."He said, "Do you not have among you Ibn Umm Abd, the keeper of the sandals, the cushion, and the water vessel? And is not among you the man whom Allah gave protection from Satan, meaning through the tongue of His Prophet ﷺ? And is not among you the one entrusted with the secret of the Prophet ﷺ, which no one else knows?"Then he asked, "How does Abdullah recite, 'By the night as it covers' [Layl 92:1]?"So I recited to him, "By the night as it covers, and by the day as it shines forth, and by the male and the female" [Layl 92:1–3].He said, "By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught me that recitation from his own mouth to mine."
قدمت الشام فصليت ركعتين، ثم قلت: اللهم يسر لي جليسا صالحا، فأتيت قوما فجلست إليهم، فإذا شيخ قد جاء حتى جلس إلى جنبي. قلت: من هذا؟ قالوا: أبو الدرداء. فقلت: إني دعوت الله أن ييسر لي جليسا صالحا فيسرك لي، قال: ممن أنت؟ قلت: من أهل الكوفة، قال: أوليس عندكم ابن أم عبد، صاحب النعلين والوساد والمطهرة؟ وفيكم الذي أجاره الله من الشيطان- يعني على لسان نبيه ﷺ- أوليس فيكم صاحب سر النبي ﷺ الذي لا يعلمه أحد غيره؟ ثم قال: كيف يقرأ عبد الله: {واليل إذا يغشى} فقرأت عليه: {واليل إذا يغشى والنهار إذا تجلى والذكر والأنثى} قال: والله لقد أقرأنيها رسول الله ﷺ من فيه إلى في.
Bukhari related it in the Virtues of the Companions (3742), and Muslim in Shortening the Prayer for Travelers (823:283), both by the route of Mughira, from Ibrahim, from Alqama, who said, then he related it. The wording given is Bukhari's, and Muslim's wording is abridged.Bukhari also related it in the Virtues of the Companions (3743) from Sulayman bin Harb, who said, Shubah narrated to us, from Mughira, from Ibrahim, who said, Alqama went to Syria, and when he entered the masjid he said, "O Allah, grant me a righteous companion to sit with." So he sat next to Abu Darda, and Abu Darda asked him, "Where are you from?"He said, "From the people of Kufa."He said, "Is there not among you, or from among you, the keeper of the secret that no one else knows?" meaning Huzaifa.He said, "I said, Yes indeed."He said, "Is there not among you, or from among you, the one whom Allah granted protection through the tongue of his Prophet ﷺ?" meaning protection from Satan, meaning Ammar."I said, Yes indeed."He said, "Is there not among you, or from among you, the man of the tooth-stick, or the man of confidential speech?"He said, "Yes indeed."He said, "How did Abdullah used to recite this, "By the night when it covers" and "the day when it shines forth"?"I said, "and the male and the female."He said, "These people have kept at me until they nearly made me abandon something I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."