The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was by a pond belonging to Banu Ghifar when Jibril, peace be upon him, came to him and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with one way of recitation." He said: "I ask my Lord for protection and forgiveness, my Ummah cannot bear that." Then he came to him a second time and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with two ways of recitation." He said: ""I ask my Lord for protection and forgiveness, my Ummah cannot bear that." Then he came to him a third time and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with three ways of recitation." He said: "I ask my Lord for protection and forgiveness, my Ummah cannot bear that." Then he came to him a fourth time and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with seven ways of recitation, and whichever the way they recite it will be correct."
Sunan an-Nasa'i Book 11, Hadith 64
← Previous Hadith They heard Umar bin Al-Khattab say: "I heard Hisham bin Hakim bin Hizam reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), so I listened to his recitation and he was reciting it in a way that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had not taught me. I was about to jump on him while he was praying, but I waited patiently until he said the Salam (at the end of the prayer). When he had said the Salam I grabbed him by his garment and said: 'Who taught you this Surah that I heard you reciting?' He said: 'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught me it. I said: 'You are lying, by Allah! The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is the one who taught me this Surah that I heard you reciting.' I took him to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I heard this man reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way that you did not teach me, but you taught me Surat Al-Furqan.' The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:' Let him go, O Umar. Recite, O Hisham.' So I recited it to him in the way that I had heard him recite. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'It was revealed like this.' Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'Recite, O Umar.' So I recited it in the way that he had taught me. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'It was revealed like this.' Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'This Quran has been revealed to be recited in seven different modes, so recite as much of the Quran as may be easy for you.'"

Sunan an-Nasa'i Book 11, Hadith 63 Next Hadith → "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught me a surah, and when I was sitting in the masjid I heard a man reciting it in a way that was different from mine. I said to him: 'Who taught you this surah?' He said: 'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).' I said: 'Stay with me until we go to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).' So we came to him and I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, this man recites a surah that you taught me differently.' The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'Recite, O Ubayy.' So I recited it, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: 'You have done well.' Then he said to the man: 'Recite.' So he recited it and it was different to my recitation. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him: 'You have done well.' Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'O Ubayy, the Quran has been revealed with seven different modes of reciation, all of which are good and sound."

Sunan an-Nasa'i Book 11, Hadith 65