The Prophet ﷺ said, "Ubayy, I was given the Quran to recite, and I was asked, 'In one letter, two, or three?' The angel with me said, 'Say two letters,' so I said, 'Two letters.' Then I was asked, 'Two letters or three?' The angel with me said, 'Say three,' so I said, 'Three.' This continued until it reached seven letters. Then he said, 'Each of them is sufficient and complete, as long as you do not end a verse of punishment with mercy, or a verse of mercy with punishment. You may say Sameean, Aleeman, Azeezan, Hakeeman.'"
قال النبي ﷺ: يا أبي، إني أقرئت القرآن، فقيل لي: على حرف أو حرفين أو ثلاث؟ فقال الملك الذي معي: قل على حرفين، فقلت: على حرفين. فقيل لي: على حرفين أو ثلاثة؟ فقال الملك الذي معي: قل على ثلاثة، قلت: على ثلاثة، حتى بلغ سبعة أحرف، ثم قال: ليس منها إلا شاف كاف، إن قلت: سميعا، عليما، عزيزا، حكيما، ما لم تختم آية عذاب برحمة، أو آية رحمة بعذاب.
Abu Dawud (1477) narrated it from Abu Walid Tayalisi, who said, Hammam bin Yahya narrated to us, from Qatada, from Yahya bin Yamar, from Sulayman bin Surad Khuzai, from Ubayy bin Kaab, and he related it.Ahmad (21149) narrated it from Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, who said, Hammam narrated to us, with his chain, and he added at the beginning of the hadith, "I recited a verse, and Ibn Masud recited it differently. So I went to the Prophet ﷺ and said, 'Did you not teach me to recite such and such verse this way?' He said, 'Yes.' Then Ibn Masud said, 'Did you not teach me to recite it this way?' He said, 'Yes, both of you have recited well and in an acceptable manner.'" He said, "So I said something to him, and he struck my chest and said, 'O Ubayy.'" Then he related the rest of the hadith in the same manner.Diya transmitted it through the route of Ahmad in Al-Mukhtarah (3/378), and he pointed to the narration of Abu Dawud.