Abī Ziyād—through ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith—who narrated from al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (may Allah be pleased with him). He said:
“I once said, ‘Messenger of Allah, Quraysh sat together and spoke about their ancestral merits. In the course of their discussion they compared you to a date-palm sprouting from a refuse-heap on the ground.’
The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—replied:
‘Allah created all creatures and placed me among the best of their divisions. He then selected the finest of the tribes and put me in the finest tribe. Next He chose the best of households and placed me in the best of them. Thus, I am the noblest of them in person and the noblest of them in lineage.’ ”
Al-Tirmidhī said: “This ḥadith is ḥasan, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith is the son of Nawfal.”
The word kubāʾ—spelled with a kasrah and a short ending—and kubbah both mean a refuse-heap. In the ḥadith the term appears as kabwah, which carries the same sense.
(1) Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad al-Qurashi al-Hashimi, their freedman, from Kufa, kunya Abu Abd Allah. He inclined toward Shiʿism, and Ibn Maʿin, al-Nasaʾi, Abu Hatim, al-Daraqutni, Abu Zurʿa, and others judged him weak. He died in 137 AH. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 11:329-331, no. 630 Y.
(2) ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Nawfal ibn al-Harith ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, al-Qurashi, was one of the leading Followers (tabiʿun) and their jurists. He was born during the Prophet’s lifetime (peace and blessings be upon him); Ibn Saʿd records that the Prophet spat into his mouth as a blessing. The people of Basra appointed him governor in the time of Ibn al-Zubayr; he later went to Oman and died there in 84 AH. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 5:180-181, no. 310 ʿA; Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqat 5:24-27.
(3) See Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Book of Merits, chapter “The Virtues of the Prophet,” hadith no. 3607 (5:584).
(4) Ibid.
(5) Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 5:584.
(6) The printed edition adds: “and the dust swept from the house.” This appears to be a gloss inserted by one of the editors or copyists.
(7) See al-Qamus al-Muhit, section kaf, sub-entry ra, 4:384.