"Read the Quran in forty [days], (then in a month, then in twenty [days], then in fifteen [days], then in ten [days], then in seven [days], he said: it ended at seven)." It was recorded by al-Tirmidhī (2/156) through the route of Samāk ibn al-Faḍl from Wahb ibn Munabbih from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr that the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said to him: and he mentioned it, saying: "A ḥadīth that is ḥasan gharīb." I said: The apparent chain of transmission is authentic, but it is more likely that it is disconnected, as Muḥammad ibn Thawr narrated it from Maʿmar from Samāk ibn al-Faḍl from Wahb ibn Munabbih from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb from his father from his grandfather ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr: "that the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) ordered him to read it in forty [days], then in a month, then in twenty [days], then in fifteen [days], then in ten [days], then in seven [days], he said: it ended at seven." And this is closer to being correct, and the chain is ḥasan. Most of the routes of the ḥadīth do not mention the forty. And in some of them, it ended at three. Refer to the Musnad of Imām Aḥmad (2/158, 162, 163, 164, 165, 188, 189, 193, 195, 199, 200, 216), and one of them will come after this. There is a corroborating narration for the three from the ḥadīth of Saʿd ibn al-Mundhir al-Anṣārī that he said: "O Messenger of Allāh! Should I read the Quran in three [days]? He said: If you can. He said: And he used to read it like that until he passed away." It was recorded by Ibn al-Mubārak in "al-Zuhd" (1274): Ibn Lahīʿah informed us, saying: Ḥibbān ibn Wāsiʿ narrated to me from his father from Saʿd ibn al-Mundhir al-Anṣārī... I said: And this is a good chain; its men are trustworthy, and although Ibn Lahīʿah had poor memory, that is if it was from the narration of others than the ʿAbādilah from him, and this is from the narration of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak from him as you see