[size=18pt]The Excellence of Reciting the Qur’an[/size]

From imam An-nawawi's riyadh soliheen...

Abu Umamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) saying, “Read the Qur’an, for it will come as an intercessor for its reciters on the Day of Resurrection.”
[Muslim].

An-Nawwas bin Sam`an (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) saying, “The Qur’an and its people who applied it, will be brought on the Day of Resurrection preceded with Surat Al-Baqarah and Surat Al-`Imran arguing on behalf of those who applied them.”
[Muslim].

`Uthman bin `Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The best amongst you is the one who learns the Qur’an and teaches it.”
[Al-Bukhari].

`Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honourable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have a double reward.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The believer who recites the Qur’an is like a citron whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is delicious. A believer who does not recite the Qur’an is like a date-fruit which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste. The hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like a colocynth whose fragrance is so sweet, but its taste is bitter. The hypocrite who does not recite the Qur’an is like basil which has no fragrance and its taste is bitter.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

`Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “Verily, Allah elevates some people with this Qur’an and abases others.”
[Muslim].

Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said: “Envy is justified in regard to two types of persons only: a man whom Allah has given knowledge of the Qur’an, and so he recites it during the night and during the day; and a man whom Allah has given wealth and so he spends from it during the night and during the day.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Al-Bara’ bin `Azib (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: A man was reciting Surat Al-Kahf, and a horse was tied with two ropes beside him. As he was reciting, a cloud overshadowed him, and as it began to come nearer and nearer, the horse began to trample voilently. The man came to the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) in the morning and mentioned the incident to him. He (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “That was tranquillity which descended as a result of the recitation of the Qur’an.”

Ibn Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.”
[At-Tirmidhi].

Ibn `Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “He who does not memorize any part from the Qur’an he is like the ruined house.”
[At-Tirmidhi].

`Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The one who was devoted to the the Qur’an will be told on the Day of Resurrection: `Recite and ascend (in ranks) as you used to recite when you were in the world. Your rank will be at the last Ayah you recite.”’
[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].