We went to visit Abdullah bin Masud one day after we had prayed the morning prayer. We greeted him at the door, and he gave us permission to enter. We waited at the door for a little while, and then the Jariya came out and said, "Won't you come in?"So we entered, and there he was, sitting and glorifying Allah. He said, "What kept you from entering when permission had already been given to you?"We replied, "Nothing, except that we thought some of the household might be asleep."He said, "Did you suppose the family of Ibn Umm Abd to be heedless?"Then he resumed glorifying Allah until he thought the sun had risen, and he said, "Jariya, look, has it risen?"She looked, and it had not yet risen. So he continued glorifying Allah until he thought the sun had risen, and he said, "Jariya, look, has it risen?"She looked, and this time it had indeed risen. He then said, "Praise be to Allah who has granted us pardon this day of ours."Mahdi said, and I think he added, "and did not destroy us for our sins."A man from among the group said, "I recited the entire Mufassal last night."Abdullah said, "Rattling it off like poetry? We used to listen to the paired surahs, and I remember the pairs that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to recite together, eighteen from the Mufassal and two from the Ha-Mim surahs."
غدونا على عبد الله بن مسعود يوما بعد ما صلينا الغداة، فسلمنا بالباب، فأذن لنا، قال: فمكثنا بالباب هنية، قال: فخرجت الجارية فقالت: ألا تدخلون؟ فدخلنا، فإذا هو جالس يسبح، فقال: ما منعكم أن تدخلوا وقد أذن لكم؟ فقلنا: لا، إلا أنا ظننا أن بعض أهل البيت نائم. قال: ظننتم بآل ابن أم عبد غفلة؟ قال: ثم أقبل يسبح حتى ظن أن الشمس قد طلعت، فقال: يا جارية! انظري، هل طلعت؟ قال: فنظرت فإذا هي لم تطلع، فأقبل يسبح حتى إذا ظن أن الشمس قد طلعت قال يا جارية، انظري هل طلعت؟ فنظرت فإذا هي قد طلعت. فقال: الحمد لله الذي أقالنا يومنا هذا.- فقال: مهدي وأحسبه قال: ولم يهلكنا بذنوبنا- قال: فقال رجل من القوم: قرأت المفصل البارحة كله، قال: فقال عبد الله: هذا كهذ الشعر؟ إنا لقد سمعنا القرائن، وإني لأحفظ القرائن التي كان يقرؤ بهن رسول الله ﷺ، ثمانية عشر من المفصل، وسورتين من آل حم.
Bukhari narrated it in "Fadail al-Quran" (5043), and Muslim narrated it in "Prayer of the Traveler" (822:278), both through Mahdi bin Maymun, who said, Wasil al-Ahdab narrated to us, from Abu Waail, and he related it. The wording given here is Muslim's, while Bukhari's wording is abridged.