Hadith collections / Al-Kafi

Al-Kafi · Hadith 5

The Book of the Excellence of the Holy Quran · Within What Period of Time the Holy Quran Should be Read and Completed? · Volume 2, book 3, chapter 11, Hadith 5

Original Arabic text

5ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ قَالَ سَأَلَ أَبُو بَصِيرٍ أَبَا عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) وَأَنَا حَاضِرٌ فَقَالَ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ أَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ فِي لَيْلَةٍ فَقَالَ لا فَقَالَ فِي لَيْلَتَيْنِ فَقَالَ لا حَتَّى بَلَغَ سِتَّ لَيَالٍ فَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ فَقَالَ هَا ثُمَّ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ إِنَّ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ مُحَمَّدٍ (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وآلِه) كَانَ يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ فِي شَهْرٍ وَأَقَلَّ إِنَّ الْقُرْآنَ لا يُقْرَأُ هَذْرَمَةً وَلَكِنْ يُرَتَّلُ تَرْتِيلاً إِذَا مَرَرْتَ بِ‏آيَةٍ فِيهَا ذِكْرُ النَّارِ وَقَفْتَ عِنْدَهَا وَتَعَوَّذْتَ بِالله مِنَ النَّارِ فَقَالَ أَبُو بَصِيرٍ أَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ فِي رَمَضَانَ فِي لَيْلَةٍ فَقَالَ لا فَقَالَ فِي لَيْلَتَيْنِ فَقَالَ لا فَقَالَ فِي ثَلاثٍ فَقَالَ هَا وَأَوْمَأَ بِيَدِهِ نَعَمْ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ لا يُشْبِهُهُ شَيْ‏ءٌ مِنَ الشُّهُورِ لَهُ حَقٌّ وَحُرْمَةٌ أَكْثِرْ مِنَ الصَّلاةِ مَا اسْتَطَعْتَ.

Published English translation

5. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam from Ali ibn abu Hamza who has said the following: “Once, abu Basil’ asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) when I was also present, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, can I read the Holy Quran in one night?’ The Imam said, ‘No.’ He then asked, ‘Can I read it in two nights?’ The Imam said, ‘No,’ until he reached six nights, the Imam (a.s.) made a hand gesture saying ‘Ha’ a,’ (a hint for approval). Then the Imam (a.s.) said, ‘O abu Muhammad, note that among the companions of Muhammad (a.s.) before you, there were those who would read the Holy Quran once in a month or less. The Holy Quran is not read in a big rush but it is read with proper elocution and distinct pronunciation. When you come across a verse that speaks of the fire you pause and ask Allah for protection.’ Abu Basir then asked, ‘Can I read the Holy Quran in the month of Ramadan once every night?’ The Imam said, ‘No.’ He then asked, ‘Can I read it in two nights?’ The Imam said, ‘No.’ He then asked, ‘Can I read it in three nights?’ The Imam said, ‘Ha’ a, ’ with a hand gesture for approval saying, ‘Yes, the month of Ramadan is not like the other months. It has its rights and respect. Increase in prayer as much as you can.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

Source, rights, and attribution

dataset Name
Thaqalayn public library, via ThaqalaynAPI snapshot
source Url
https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/2/3/11/5
license
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
edition
Al-Kafi, volume 2, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
imported At
2026-10-18T21:36:12.871Z
license Url
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
rights Statement Url
https://thaqalayn.com/terms
attribution
Source: Thaqalayn (Stichting Thaqalayn). Compiler: Shaykh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī. Translation: Muhammad Sarwar. Data transport: MohammedArab1/ThaqalaynAPI. No endorsement implied.
translator
Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision
becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
content Hash
c1c6df32a068e9c2361b8184b521990694fcfc6f70bc0b3e3ebaf6b1e47b8aa6
source File Hash
d538c07d5f74e5fbc26b065897c076eab247d4d7c09e633fbb6184de9f37ee78
original Source Url
https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/3/11/5
changes
Arabic and English texts preserved verbatim from pinned snapshot. Compiler introduction excluded where present; references mapped to fields; assessment whitespace trimmed; source-supplied English sanad retained separately. Search normalization is not applied to displayed text. Snapshot URL's erroneous volume 1 segment corrected to volume 2 using the reviewed file/book/volume metadata and publisher chapter structure; original URL retained for audit.
verification Note
Publisher content rights, translator attribution and structural checks, with independent publisher-page spot checks—not scholarly authentication or printed-edition collation. Historical text and scholarly reference strings may contain source errors; they are not silently corrected. No full commentary prose or inferred narrator identity is added. Muʿjam coverage, where present, is only the supplied excerpt, not the complete work.