al-Ghaffār ibn Muḥammad ibn Shīrawayh, who said: “Abū Bakr al-Ḥīrī informed us; Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm narrated to us; Abū Zurʿah narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Khālid narrated to us; Ibn Isḥāq narrated to us, from ʿIyāḍ ibn Dīnār, who said:

‘I entered the mosque while Abū Hurayrah was delivering the Friday sermon to the people as Marwān’s deputy during the days of ḥajj. He said:

“The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: ‘The first group of my community to enter Paradise will look like the full moon on the night it shines in its fullness; the group that follows them will shine like the brightest stars in the sky.’” (1)’”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim said: “Abū Zurʿah of Damascus was my father’s companion. My father and I both wrote ḥadith from him, and he was reliable and truthful.” (2)

Abū al-Maymūn ibn Rāshid said: “I heard Abū Zurʿah say, ‘Abū Mushir was pleased to have me sit with him when I was still a boy.’” (3)

Ibn Abī Ḥātim also said: “My father narrated to us that Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī mentioned Abū Zurʿah of Damascus and said, ‘He is the shaykh of the young scholars.’ My father was asked about him, and he replied, ‘He is reliable.’” (4)