‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “One who recites the Quran publicly is like one who gives charity publicly, and one who recites privately is like one who gives charity privately.”
Al-Tirmidhi said, “According to the scholars, the meaning is that private recital protects a man from conceit because one who performs deeds in secret does not fear vanity for himself in the same way as if he did them openly.”
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2919
Grade: Hasan (fair) according to Al-Tirmidhi
عَنْ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ عَامِرٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُول اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْجَاهِرُ بِالْقُرْآنِ كَالْجَاهِرِ بِالصَّدَقَةِ وَالْمُسِرُّ بِالْقُرْآنِ كَالْمُسِرِّ بِالصَّدَقَةِ
قال الترمذي وَإِنَّمَا مَعْنَى هَذَا عِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ لِكَيْ يَأْمَنَ الرَّجُلُ مِنَ الْعُجْبِ لِأَنَّ الَّذِي يُسِرُّ الْعَمَلَ لَا يُخَافُ عَلَيْهِ الْعُجْبُ مَا يُخَافُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ عَلَانِيَتِهِ
2919 سنن الترمذي أبواب فضائل القرآن
5/40 المحدث الترمذي خلاصة حكم المحدث حسن غريب في سنن الترمذي