(1) Nuqan – with initial nun pronounced with dammah, followed by qaf and ending with nun – was one of the two chief towns of the province of Tus. That province comprised two cities: Tabaran and Nuqan. See Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Buldan, 5:311. (2) Recorded by al-Bukhari, 10:347 (Book of Manners, chapter on the virtue of maintaining kinship ties), and by Muslim (no. 13, Book of Faith, chapter on the faith that admits one to Paradise). Both versions run through the chain: ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Bishr → Bahz → Shuʿbah → Muhammad b. ʿUthman b. ʿAbd Allah b. Mawhab, together with his father ʿUthman b. ʿAbd Allah, who both heard it from Musa b. Talhah, from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari – A man said, “Messenger of Allah, tell me a deed that will make me enter Paradise.” The people exclaimed, “What is the matter with him?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Arib maluh.” He then replied, “Worship Allah without associating anything with Him, establish the prayer, give the zakat, and strengthen the bonds of kinship.” (The narrator added: It was as though the man was mounted on his riding-beast.) Al-Bukhari also relates the hadith at 3:208-209 (opening of the Book of Zakat) through Hafs b. ʿUmar from Shuʿbah; Muslim records it again (no. 13) through Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah b. Numayr, from his father, from ʿAmr b. ʿUthman, from Musa b. Talhah, from Abu Ayyub, and likewise through Abu l-Ahwas from Abu Ishaq. Al-Nasaʾi, 1:234 (chapter on the reward of one who establishes the prayer), transmits it via Muhammad b. ʿUthman b. Abi Safwan al-Thaqafi → Bahz → Shuʿbah. The word “Arib” is reported with kasrah of the raʾ and fathah of the baʾ. Ibn Hajar comments in Fath al-Bari, 3:209, that it functions as a supplication conveying amazement at the questioner. Al-Nadr b. Shumayl said: “ʾAraba al-rajul fi l-amr” means he exerted himself fully in it; al-Asmaʿi stated: “ʾAraba fi l-shayʾ” means he became proficient, hence “arib” (skilled). The phrase therefore expresses admiration for the man’s perceptiveness in pinpointing what he needed. This is supported by Muslim’s wording: “The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘He has indeed been granted success,’ or, ‘He has indeed been guided.’” In the introduction to Fath al-Bari, pp. 75-76, Ibn Hajar returns to the expression “Arib …” (text incomplete in the present citation).