On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has not revealed in the Torah nor in the Gospel anything like the Mother of the Qur’an (Umm al-Qur’an). It is the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses, and it is divided between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks."(1)

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(1) A sound hadith; its narrators are trustworthy, except for ‘Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja‘far and al-‘Ala’ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, who are slightly below the rank of trustworthy. It is found in al-Sunan al-Kubra, no. 988.

It was also recorded by al-Tirmidhi (3125) from al-Husayn ibn Hurayth, with this chain of transmission, and he said: A hasan sahih hadith.

There is a difference of opinion regarding it from al-‘Ala’ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman:

The compiler recorded it as in this narration, and ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad in his additions to al-Musnad (21094) and (21095), and Ibn Hibban (775), via the route of ‘Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja‘far from al-‘Ala’, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b.

Ahmad recorded it (8682) via the route of Isma‘il ibn Ja‘far, and (9345) via the route of ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim, and al-Tirmidhi (2875) and following (3125) via the route of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad, and the compiler in al-Sunan al-Kubra (11141) via the route of Rawh ibn al-Qasim — all four of them from al-‘Ala’ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to Ubayy ibn Ka‘b while he was praying… the hadith is similar to the hadith of Abu Sa‘id ibn al-Mu‘alla mentioned previously, and they made it part of the musnad of Abu Hurayrah. Al-Tirmidhi said: The hadith of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad is longer and more complete, and this is more sound than the hadith of ‘Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja‘far. Thus more than one narrator related it from al-‘Ala’ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari 8/157: Al-Hakim also recorded it via the route of al-A‘raj, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called out to Ubayy ibn Ka‘b… and this strengthens what al-Tirmidhi preferred. Al-Bayhaqi reconciled by saying that the incident occurred with Ubayy ibn Ka‘b and with Abu Sa‘id ibn al-Mu‘alla, and one must adopt this view because of the differing sources of the two hadiths and their differing contexts… See the rest of his words.

Ahmad also recorded (9788) and (9790), al-Bukhari (4704), Abu Dawud (1457), and al-Tirmidhi (3124) via the route of Sa‘id al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "The Mother of the Qur’an is the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses and the Mighty Qur’an." (Al-Bukhari’s wording).