Saʿd ibn al-Ṣalt narrated it—from Yaḥyā ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, from Ayyūb—with an unbroken chain reaching Abū Hurayrah.
Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf informed me; Ibn Rawāḥah informed us; al-Salafī informed us; Ibn al-Busrī (1) informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yaḥyā informed us; Ismāʿīl al-Ṣaffār informed us; al-Ramādī related to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; Maʿmar reported—from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād—who said:
“Muʿāwiyah used to appoint Abū Hurayrah as governor of Medina, but whenever he grew angry with him he would dispatch Marwān and dismiss him.
In due course he deposed Marwān and reinstated Abū Hurayrah, who then said to a black servant:
‘Stand at the door and admit everyone except Marwān.’
The servant obeyed: the people entered, while Marwān was kept out. Later, when Marwān’s turn came, he was allowed in and said, ‘We have been shut out from you.’
Abū Hurayrah replied, ‘Of all people, the one who has least cause to resent this is you.’ (2)(3)"
= Ayub, from Ibn Sirin, that … Ibn Saʿd also recorded it in al-Tabaqat 4/335 through Hawdha b. Khalifa, ʿAbd al-Wahhab b. ʿAta, Yahya b. Khalif b. ʿUqba, and Bakkar b. Muhammad, who said: “ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAwn told us, from Muhammad b. Sirin, from Abu Hurayra.”
He likewise transmitted it through ʿAmr b. al-Haytham, who said: “Abu Hilal narrated to us, from Muhammad b. Sirin, from Abu Hurayra.”
Abu Hilal al-Rasabi is reliable but somewhat weak, while the remaining transmitters are trustworthy; with the previous chain, the report is sound.
Al-Baladhuri also cites it in Futuh al-Buldan, p. 93, via Shayban b. Farrukh, from Abu Hilal al-Rasabi, from Muhammad b. Sirin, from Abu Hurayra; and again through al-Qasim b. Sallam and Ruh b. ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, from Yaʿqub b. Ishaq al-Hadrami, from Yazid b. Ibrahim al-Tustari, from Ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayra. This isnad is authentic.
See Ibn ʿAsakir 19/124/2.
Abu Nuʿaym also reports it in Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ 1/380–381, through Ayub al-Sakhtiyani, from Ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayra.
(1) al-Basri, with a b, denotes someone who sells busr (half-ripe dates). In the printed edition it has been corrupted to “al-Sari.” His full name is al-Husayn b. ʿAli b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Bandar al-Baghdadi; he died in 497 AH. See al-ʿIbar 3/346–347.
(2) Tarikh al-Islam 2/388 reads: “those whose narration is not rejected.”
(3) All the transmitters are trustworthy; the report is also found in Tarikh Ibn ʿAsakir 19/125/1.