Al-Aʿmash narrated—from ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmayr, from Abū Ḥarb ibn Abī al-Aswad—who said: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declare, “No dusty earth has ever carried, nor green sky ever shaded, a man whose speech is truer than Abū Dharr (1).”
Ḥammād ibn Salamah transmitted—through ʿAlī ibn Zayd, from Bilāl ibn Abī al-Dardāʾ, from his father—from the Prophet ﷺ—the same statement. A similar wording is also reported from Jābir and Abū Hurayrah.
Abū Umayyah ibn Yaʿlā—who is weak—narrated from Abū al-Zinād, from al-Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever would be pleased to witness the humility of Jesus son of Mary, let him look at Abū Dharr (2).”
Salām ibn Miskīn reported: Mālik ibn Dīnār informed us that the Prophet ﷺ once asked, “Which of you will meet me in the state in which I leave him?” Abū Dharr replied, “I will.” The Prophet ﷺ then said, “No green sky has shaded, nor dusty earth carried, anyone whose speech is more truthful than Abū Dharr! Whoever wishes to behold the renunciation (zuhd) of Jesus, let him look at Abū Dharr (3).”
(1) A strong hadith when supported by its corroborating chains; transmitted by al-Tirmidhi (3801), Ibn Saʿd 4/228, al-Hakim 3/342, and Ibn Majah (156). ʿUthman ibn ʿUmayr is weak, and in the Mustadrak his name has been distorted to ʿUthman ibn Qays; the rest of the transmitters are trustworthy.
The report of Abu al-Dardaʾ is recorded by Ibn Saʿd 4/228 and al-Hakim 3/342; ʿAli ibn Zayd—i.e. Ibn Judʿan—is weak, while the other narrators are reliable. Al-Haythami cites it in Majmaʿ 9/329, adding its presence in the collections of al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani; he remarks that although ʿAli ibn Zayd has been deemed reliable by some, he remains weak, whereas the remaining transmitters are sound.
I have not located the narration from Jabir.
The report of Abu Hurayra is found in Ibn Saʿd 4/228; its chain contains Abu Umayya ibn Yaʿla, who is weak, while the other narrators are trustworthy.
On the same topic there is a narration from Abu Dharr in al-Tirmidhi (3802), which al-Tirmidhi graded hasan.
Al-ghabraʾ means “the earth,” and al-khadraʾ “the sky.”
Al-lahja denotes speech or pronunciation.
(2) The chain is weak because of Abu Umayya ibn Yaʿla’s unreliability, as the author notes; the report occurs in Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqat 4/228.
(3) Ibn Saʿd 4/228; all the narrators are trustworthy, but the chain is interrupted (munqatiʿ).