The ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim also cited this report in his History, transmitting it from al-Salafī by ijāzah.
I (the author) say: Abū Hurayrah was of pleasant manners; he would sometimes act as Marwān’s deputy in Medina as well (1).
Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated—from Thābit—from Abū Rāfiʿ—who said:
“Marwān would on occasion leave Abū Hurayrah in charge of Medina. Abū Hurayrah would mount a donkey with a padded saddle, a tuft of palm-fibre tied on his head, and ride along. When he met someone he would say, ‘Clear the way! The emir is coming.’
Sometimes he would come upon children playing at night a Bedouin game. Before they noticed him, he would throw himself among them and kick his legs about; the children would panic and scatter. He would also invite me to supper and say, ‘Leave the gravy for the emir.’
I would look and find only a bowl of tharīd soaked in oil (2).”
ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith narrated—from Yazīd ibn Ziyād al-Quraẓī—who was told by Thalabah ibn Abī Mālik al-Quraẓī:
“Abū Hurayrah once walked through the marketplace carrying a bundle of firewood while he was that day Marwān’s deputy, and he said, ‘Make room for the emir!’ (3).”
(1) Muslim records this report in his Sahih (no. 877) through the chain: ʿAbd Allah ibn Maslama ibn Qaʿnab — Sulayman ibn Bilal — Jaʿfar — his father — Ibn Abi Rafiʿ, who relates: “When Marwan appointed Abu Hurayra as his deputy in Madina and departed for Mecca, Abu Hurayra led us in the Friday prayer. In the second rakʿa, after reciting Surat al-Jumuʿa, he recited Idha jaʾaka al-munafiqun (Surat al-Munafiqun). After the prayer I approached Abu Hurayra and said, ‘You have just recited the two surahs that ʿAli ibn Abi Talib used to recite in Kufa.’ Abu Hurayra replied, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recite them on a Friday.’
(2) All the transmitters in the chain are reliable. Abu Rafiʿ’s personal name was Nafiʿ the Goldsmith al-Madani; he later resided in Basra and is a firmly established authority whose hadith are found in all six canonical collections. The same report appears in Tarikh Dimashq, 19/125/1. Al-khalaba (sing. of khalb) is a thin, sturdy rope made from palm fibre, cotton or similar material. Tarikh al-Islam adds that its halter was fashioned from palm fibre. Al-ʿiraq denotes either a bone from which most of the meat has been removed, or the small remnant of flesh that still clings to it.
(3) Abu Nuʿaym reproduces the narration in Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ, 1/384, via Ibn Wahb from ʿAmr ibn al-Harith; all its transmitters are reliable. It is also cited in Ibn ʿAsakir’s Tarikh, 19/125/1.