Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ أَخْبَرَنَا أَيُّوبُ عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ سَلِمَةَ قَالَ كُنَّا عَلَى حَاضِرٍ فَكَانَ الرُّكْبَانُ وَقَالَ إِسْمَاعِيلُ مَرَّةً النَّاسُ يَمُرُّونَ بِنَا رَاجِعِينَ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَدْنُو مِنْهُمْ فَأَسْمَعُ حَتَّى حَفِظْتُ قُرْآنًا وَكَانَ النَّاسُ يَنْتَظِرُونَ بِإِسْلَامِهِمْ فَتْحَ مَكَّةَ فَلَمَّا فُتِحَتْ جَعَلَ الرَّجُلُ يَأْتِيهِ فَيَقُولُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَنَا وَافِدُ بَنِي فُلَانٍ وَجِئْتُكَ بِإِسْلَامِهِمْ فَانْطَلَقَ أَبِي بِإِسْلَامِ قَوْمِهِ فَرَجَعَ إِلَيْهِمْ فَقَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدِّمُوا أَكْثَرَكُمْ قُرْآنًا قَالَ فَنَظَرُوا وَأَنَا لَعَلَى حِوَاءٍ عَظِيمٍ فَمَا وَجَدُوا فِيهِمْ أَحَدًا أَكْثَرَ قُرْآنًا مِنِّي فَقَدَّمُونِي وَأَنَا غُلَامٌ فَصَلَّيْتُ بِهِمْ وَعَلَيَّ بُرْدَةٌ وَكُنْتُ إِذَا رَكَعْتُ أَوْ سَجَدْتُ قَلَصَتْ فَتَبْدُو عَوْرَتِي فَلَمَّا صَلَّيْنَا تَقُولُ عَجُوزٌ لَنَا دَهْرِيَّةٌ غَطُّوا عَنَّا اسْتَ قَارِئِكُمْ قَالَ فَقَطَعُوا لِي قَمِيصًا فَذَكَرَ أَنَّهُ فَرِحَ بِهِ فَرَحًا شَدِيدًا.
English Translation
Isma'il told us: Ayyub informed us, from Amr ibn Salamah, who said: We were at a watering-place, and the riders - Isma'il said once "the people" - would pass by us returning from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I would draw near them and listen, until I had memorized [some] Qur'an. The people were waiting for the conquest of Mecca [before] their acceptance of Islam; so when it was conquered, a man would come to him [the Prophet] and say: "O Messenger of Allah, I am the delegate of Banu so-and-so, and I have brought you their acceptance of Islam." So my father went off with the Islam of his people and returned to them, saying: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Put forward the one among you who has the most Qur'an.'" He said: So they looked, and I was [living] in a large encampment, and they found no one among them with more Qur'an than me, so they put me forward though I was a young boy, and I led them in prayer wearing a cloak. Whenever I bowed or prostrated, it would ride up, exposing my nakedness. When we finished praying, an old pagan woman of ours said: "Cover up the backside of your reciter from us!" He said: So they made me a shirt, and he mentioned that he was extremely delighted with it.