He came to Umar and said, "Commander of the Faithful, I have come from Kufa, where I left behind a man dictating copies of the Quran from memory."Umar grew angry and swelled with rage until he nearly filled the space between the two crossbars of the saddle. He said, "Woe to you, who is he?"The man replied, "Abdullah bin Masud."His anger gradually subsided and faded away until he returned to his normal state. Then he said, "Woe to you, by Allah, I do not know of anyone left among the people more deserving of that than him, and I will tell you why.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to stay up late at night with Abu Bakr discussing matters concerning the Muslims. One night he stayed late with him while I was present. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out, and we went out with him. Suddenly there was a man standing and praying in the mosque. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood listening to his recitation. When we were just about to recognize him, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Whoever wishes to recite the Quran fresh as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd.'Then the man sat down to make supplication, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began saying to him, 'Ask and you will be given. Ask and you will be given.'"Umar said, "I told myself, by Allah, I will go to him in the morning and give him the good news. So I went to him in the morning to deliver the good news, but I found that Abu Bakr had beaten me to him and had already told him. By Allah, I never raced him to any good deed except that he beat me to it."
أنه أتى عمر فقال: جئت يا أمير المؤمنين من الكوفة، وتركت بها رجلا يملي المصاحف عن ظهر قلبه، فغضب وانتفخ حتى كاد يملأ ما بين شعبتي الرحل، فقال: ومن هو ويحك؟ قال: عبد الله بن مسعود، فما زال يطفأ ويسرى عنه الغضب حتى عاد الى حاله التي كان عليها. ثم قال: ويحك والله ما أعلمه بقي من الناس أحد هو أحق بذلك منه، وسأحدثك عن ذلك، كان رسول الله ﷺ لا يزال يسمر عند أبي بكر الليلة كذاك في الأمر من أمر المسلمين، وإنه سمر عنده ذات ليلة وأنا فخرج رسول الله ﷺ وخرجنا معه، فإذا رجل قائم يصلي في المسجد، فقام رسول الله ﷺ يستمع قراءته، فلما كدنا أن نعرفه قال رسول الله ﷺ: من سره أن يقرأ القرآن رطبا كما أنزل فليقرأه على قراءة ابن أم عبد. قال: ثم جلس الرجل يدعو فجعل رسول الله ﷺ يقول له: سل تعطه سل تعطه. قال عمر: قلت والله لأغدون إليه فلا بشرنه، قال: فغدوت إليه لأبشره فوجدت أبا بكر قد سبقني إليه فبشره، ولا والله ما سابقته إلى خير قط إلا سبقني إليه.
Ahmad narrated it (75) from Abu Muawiya, who said, Amash narrated to us, from Ibrahim, from Alqama, who said, "A man came to Umar while he was at Arafah." Ahmad said, Abu Muawiya said, "Amash also narrated to us from Khaythama, from Qays bin Marwan," and he mentioned the hadith. Its isnad is sahih.Abu Yaala also narrated it (1/122), number (189) (edited by Athari), from Abu Khaythama, who said, "Muhammad bin Hazim (Abu Muawiya) narrated to us," with similar wording. Haythami said in Majma al-Zawaid (9/287), "Abu Yaala narrated it with two chains, and the men of one of them are the men of the Sahih, except for Qays bin Marwan, who is trustworthy." I say, he attributed it to Abu Yaala in this way but did not attribute it to Ahmad, even though their isnads and wordings are identical.Ibn Majah narrated it in the Introduction (138) via Yahya bin Adam, who said, Abu Bakr bin Ayyash narrated to us, from Asim, from Zirr, from Abdullah bin Masud, that Abu Bakr and Umar gave him the good news that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Whoever wishes to recite the Quran fresh as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd."Abu Yaala also narrated it (1/42, number 16) (edited by Athari) via Yahya bin Adam, at greater length than this. Haythami attributed it to Ahmad and did not attribute it to Abu Yaala, and said, "It contains Asim bin Abu Najud, who, despite being daif, is hasan."Tirmidhi narrated it (593) via Yahya bin Adam, with slight variation, and said, "This is a hasan hadith," and said, "Ahmad bin Hanbal narrated it from Yahya bin Adam in abridged form." End of quote. Shaykh Ahmad Shakir said in his commentary on Tirmidhi, "I searched for it in the Musnad but did not find it," yet it is in the Musnad under number (35).Ahmad also narrated it (4255) from Muawiya bin Amr, who said, Zaida narrated to us, who said, Asim bin Abu Najud narrated to us, from Zirr, from Abdullah, that the Prophet ﷺ came to him along with Abu Bakr and Umar while Abdullah was praying. He began reciting Surah Nisa and recited it straight through in one uninterrupted flow, so the Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever wishes to recite the Quran fresh as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd." Then he stepped forward and made a supplication, and the Prophet ﷺ kept saying, "Ask and you shall be given, ask and you shall be given." Among what he asked for, he said, "O Allah, I ask You for faith that does not turn back, blessing that does not run out, and companionship with Your prophet Muhammad ﷺ in the highest part of the eternal Paradise." He said, Umar then went to Abdullah to give him the good news, but found that Abu Bakr had already beaten him to it, so he said, "If you did that, then you have indeed always been foremost in doing good."Its isnad is hasan because of Asim bin Abu Najud, for his hadith is hasan.His saying "fasahalaha" means he recited it all in one continuous, uninterrupted recitation.