so take your revenge.”
So I turned on her until I saw (1) that the saliva in her mouth had dried up; she could not give me a single reply. I then noticed the face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ beaming with pleasure (2).
Ahmad ibn ʿUbayd Allah al-Narsi (3) reported: Yahya al-Khawwas narrated to us, saying: Muhadir related from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿAʾishah, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to me on a day that was not my turn, seeking intimacy (4). He knocked, and I heard the knock; I then went out and opened the door for him.
He said, ‘Did you not hear the knocking?!’
I replied, ‘Indeed I did, but I wanted the other women to know that you had come to me on a day that was not mine (5).’ ”
Hisham ibn ʿUrwah (6) — from his father — from ʿAʾishah, said:
“The Prophet ﷺ raced me and I outstripped him for as long as Allah willed. Later, when I had put on some weight, he raced me and he outpaced me. He said, ‘O ʿAʾishah, this one makes up for that one (7).’ ”
(1) In the Musnad the wording is, “I saw it,” whereas Ibn Maja adds, “I saw it after it had dried.”
(2) Chain of transmission: all the narrators are reliable. Reported by Ahmad, 6/93, and by Ibn Maja (no. 1981). Al-Busayri states in his Zawaid (no. 128) that the isnad is sound according to Muslim’s criteria. Al-Nasa i also transmits it in Ashrat al-Nisa and, in his Tafsir, through two routes: from Abda ibn Abd Allah and from Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Makhrami, both via al-Mu alla ibn Mansur, from Yahya ibn Zakariya ibn Abi Zayda, from Zakariya ibn Abi Zayda.
(3) Printing errors: in the Damascus edition the name appears as “Abd” instead of “Abda,” while “al-Narsi” is misprinted in the Dar al-Ma arif edition as “al-Rasi.” The word “muha sir” is misread in the Damascus edition as “muhasir” with a sad.
(4) In the Damascus edition the word is corrupted to “manji an,” and the editor’s comment there is even more far-fetched.
(5) I have found no biographical entry for Yahya al-Khawwas. As for Muhadir ibn al-Murri , Abu Hatim judged him “not solid,” and Imam Ahmad said he was “extremely careless.”
(6) In the Damascus edition the word has been altered to “an.”
(7) The isnad is sound. The report appears in the Musnad, 6/39 and 6/364; also in the Musnad of al-Humaydi (no. 261), Abu Dawud (no. 2578, Book of Jihad, chapter: Racing on foot), Ibn Maja (no. 1979), and al-Nasa i in Ashrat al-Nisa, 74/2. Ahmad further records it at 6/129, 182, 261, and 280 through another chain from her.