One night, while Usayd bin Hudayr was reciting in his enclosure for drying dates, his horse suddenly bolted. He continued reciting, and it bolted again. He recited once more, and it bolted yet again.Usayd said, "I feared it would trample Yahya, so I got up and went toward it. There above my head was something like a canopy, and within it were what looked like lamps. It rose up into the sky until I could no longer see it."He continued, "The next morning I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, 'Messenger of Allah, last night in the depths of the night, while I was reciting in my enclosure, my horse suddenly bolted.'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Recite, Ibn Hudayr.'He said, "So I recited, and it bolted again."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Recite, Ibn Hudayr."He said, "So I recited, and it bolted yet again."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Recite, Ibn Hudayr."He said, "So I stopped. Yahya was near the horse, and I feared it would trample him. Then I saw something like a canopy with what looked like lamps inside it, rising up into the sky until I could no longer see it."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Those were the angels listening to you. Had you continued reciting, by morning the people would have been able to see them, and they would not have been hidden from them."
أن أسيد بن حضير، بينما هو ليلة يقرأ في مربده، إذ جالت فرسه، فقرأ، ثم جالت أخرى، فقرأ، ثم جالت أيضا، قال أسيد: فخشيت أن تطأ يحيى، فقمت إليها، فإذا مثل الظلة فوق رأسي، فيها أمثال السرج، عرجت في الجو حتى ما أراها، قال: فغدوت على رسول الله ﷺ فقلت: يا رسول الله، بينما أنا البارحة من جوف الليل أقرأ في مربدي إذ جالت فرسي، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: اقرأ ابن حضير قال: فقرأت، ثم جالت أيضا، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: اقرأ ابن حضير. قال: فقرأت، ثم جالت أيضا، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: اقرأ ابن حضير. قال: فانصرفت وكان يحيى قريبا منها، خشيت أن تطأه فرأيت مثل الظلة فيها أمثال السرج، عرجت في الجو حتى ما أراها، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: تلك الملائكة كانت تستمع لك، ولو قرأت لأصبحت يراها الناس، ما تستتر منهم.
Muslim narrated it in the chapter on the prayer of travelers (796), on the authority of Hasan bin Ali Hulwani and Hajjaj bin Shayr - whose wording was close to each other - who both said, Yaqub bin Ibrahim told us, my father told us, Yazid bin Had told us, that Abdullah bin Khabab told him, that Abu Saeed Khudri told him, and he related the hadith.An explicit statement appears in Bukhari (5018) that he was reciting Surah Baqarah, though he mentioned it as a suspended (mualaq) report, saying, Layth said, Yazid bin Had told me, from Muhammad bin Ibrahim, from Usayd bin Hudayr, who said, "While I was reciting Surah Baqarah at night, with my horse tethered nearby, it suddenly bolted. I fell silent, and it grew still. I recited again and it bolted, so I fell silent and it grew still. Then I recited again and it bolted, so I stopped. My son Yahya was nearby, and I feared it might hurt him. When I pulled him toward me, I raised my head toward the sky and could no longer see the horse. In the morning I told the Prophet ﷺ what had happened, and he said, 'Recite, O Ibn Hudayr, recite, O Ibn Hudayr.' I said, 'I was afraid, O Messenger of Allah, that it would trample Yahya, since he was close to it. So I raised my head and turned toward him, then I raised my head to the sky, and there was something like a canopy with what looked like lamps inside it. I went outside until I could no longer see it.' He said, 'Do you know what that was?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Those were the angels who drew near for your voice. Had you gone on reciting, the people would have seen it in the morning, for it would not have hidden itself from them.'"Yet despite being a suspended report, it also contains a break in the chain, for Muhammad bin Ibrahim - who is Ibn Harith Taymi Madani - was a minor tabii who narrated this in mursal form from Usayd bin Hudayr, since Usayd died in the year twenty, and he never met him.Then Bukhari said, Ibn Hadi said, "Abdullah bin Khabab also told me this hadith, from Abu Saeed, from Usayd bin Hudayr."I say, this is the version that Muslim connected, as mentioned earlier, though he did not mention Surah Baqarah in it.But Nasai narrated it in Sunan al-Kubra (7962, 8020) through another route, from Layth, who said, Khalid bin Yazid told us, from Ibn Abu Hilal, from Yazid bin Abdullah bin Usama, from Abdullah bin Khabab, from Abu Saeed Khudri, from Usayd bin Hudayr - who had one of the most beautiful voices among people in reciting the Quran - who said, "I recited Surah Baqarah tonight," and he related something similar.This chain is hasan, for Ibn Abu Hilal, who is Saeed Laythi, their freedman, is reliable, his hadith being hasan.