He said that a man stood in prayer during the time of the Prophet ﷺ and in the hours before dawn recited "Say, He is Allah, the One" [Ikhlas 112:1], repeating it over and over and adding nothing to it. When morning came, a man went to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Messenger of Allah, so-and-so stood in prayer last night and before dawn he recited 'Say, He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, and there is none comparable to Him' [Ikhlas 112:1–4], repeating it over and over and adding nothing to it." It was as though the man thought little of it.The Prophet ﷺ said, "By Him in whose hand is my soul, it equals a third of the Quran."
قال إن رجلا قام في زمن النبي ﷺ يقرأ من السحر: {قل هو الله أحد} يرددها لا يزيد عليها، فلما أصبح أتى رجل النبي ﷺ فقال: يا رسول الله إن فلانا قام الليلة، فقرأ في السحر: {قل هو الله أحد الله الصمد لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوا أحد} يرددها لا يزيد عليها كأن الرجل يتقالها- قال النبي ﷺ والذي نفسي بيده إنها لتعدل ثلث القرآن.
Abu Yaala (1548) narrated it from Abu Muamar Hudhali, Ismail bin Ibrahim, who said, Ismail bin Jafar narrated to us, from Malik bin Anas, from Abdul-Rahman bin Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman bin Sasaa, from his father, from Abu Saeed Khudri, who said, "My brother Qatada bin Numan told me," and then he related it. Its chain of transmission is sahih.Qatada bin Numan was the maternal brother of Abu Saeed Khudri. He was among the most virtuous and eminent of the companions, and he died in the year twenty-three.In Yahya Laythi's narration from Malik in the Quran chapter (17), from Abu Saeed, "Qatada bin Numan" is not mentioned in it.In Abdullah bin Yusuf's narration from Malik, as found in Bukhari, it reads, "that a man heard a man," meaning that Abu Saeed left his brother unnamed.In Ismail bin Jafar's narration from Malik, as found in Abu Yaala, Qatada bin Numan is mentioned explicitly. Bukhari pointed to this narration following the hadith of Abu Saeed (5014), citing it with an unconnected chain, saying, "Abu Muamar added, Ismail bin Jafar narrated to us with his chain, similarly."