(88) Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 200, transmitted through Haytham b. Kharija from al-Jarrah, with the same chain. (1) The chain in Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 200, is composed of trustworthy narrators. Al-Haythami mentions the report in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid, attributes it to Ahmad and al-Tabarani, and remarks: “In it is Baqiyya, who practised tadlis, but in the Musnad he explicitly states that he heard the hadith; the rest of the transmitters are reliable.” Although the printed edition of the Musnad does not show Baqiyya’s explicit statement of audition, other reports strengthen the tradition. Ahmad relates in the Musnad (5/224) from ʿAmr b. al-Hamaq that he heard the Prophet say: “When Allah intends good for a servant, He employs him.” They asked, “And how does He employ him?” He replied, “He opens for him a righteous deed just before his death, so that the people around him become pleased with him.” The isnad is hasan; Ibn Hibban authenticated it (no. 1822). Ahmad also narrates (3/106, 120, 230), and al-Tirmidhi (2142) records, from Anas b. Malik: “I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘When Allah intends good for a servant, He employs him.’ They asked, ‘How does He employ him?’ He said, ‘He enables him to perform a righteous deed shortly before death, then He takes him while he is engaged in it.’” Ibn Hibban (no. 1821) and al-Hakim declared it sahih, and al-Tirmidhi graded it hasan sahih. (2) In the printed text the name has been misread as “Shurayh.” (3) Ibn al-Athir explains that “ʿasal” (lit. honey) here means “pleasant praise.” The verb ʿasala al-taʿam (“he put honey in the food”) indicates sweetening; the good deeds with which Allah graces a person, causing his remembrance among his people to become pleasant, are likened to honey that sweetens food. (4) Abu Zurʿa, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 1, p. 351. Ḥaywah is Ibn Shurayh; Baqiyya is Ibn al-Walid; Ibn Ziyad is Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Ilahani.