A group of us, companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, sat together discussing among ourselves. We said, "If only we knew which deeds are most beloved to Allah, we would perform them." Then Allah, the Exalted, revealed, "All that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth glorifies Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. Believers, why do you say what you do not do?" [Saff 61:1–2].Abdullah bin Salam said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited it to us."Abu Salama said, "Ibn Salam recited it to us."Yahya said, "Abu Salama recited it to us."Ibn Kathir said, "Uzai recited it to us."Abdullah said, "Ibn Kathir recited it to us."
حدثنا عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن أخبرنا محمد بن كثير عن الأوزاعي عن يحيى بن أبي كثير عن أبي سلمة
قعدنا نفر من أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ فتذاكرنا فقلنا لو نعلم أي الأعمال أحب إلى الله لعملناه فأنزل الله تعالى {سبح لله ما في السموات وما في الأرض وهو العزيز الحكيم يا أيها الذين آمنوا لم تقولون ما لا تفعلون} قال عبد الله بن سلام فقرأها علينا رسول الله ﷺ قال أبو سلمة فقرأها علينا ابن سلام قال يحيى فقرأها علينا أبو سلمة قال ابن كثير فقرأها علينا الأوزاعي قال عبد الله فقرأها علينا ابن كثير
[Sahih] Hakim narrated it in 69/2, 228-229 from the hadith of Muhammad bin Kathir with this same wording, and graded it sahih according to the standard of Bukhari and Muslim, and Dhahabi agreed with him. Ahmad narrated it in 452/5 from the hadith of Uzai with this same wording, and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih, no. 1589. Yahya bin Abu Kathir explicitly stated that he heard it directly from Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman, as found in Hakim's version and others, as well as in the hadith of Ibn Mubarak found in Ahmad, 452/5.