It may also be that by “the creation” he meant the children of Adam, so that I was placed among the best of them—that is, among the descendants of Abraham, or, more specifically, among the Arabs. He then divided the descendants of Abraham into two groups: the progeny of Ishmael and the progeny of Isaac. Alternatively, He divided the Arabs into the lines of ʿAdnān and Qaḥṭān, and He placed me in the line of Ishmael, that is, the line of ʿAdnān. Thereafter He turned the descendants of Ishmael—or of ʿAdnān—into tribes, and He placed me in the noblest of those tribes: Quraysh.
In every formulation, therefore, the ḥadith clearly prefers the Arabs over other peoples. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ further explained that this preference requires love first for the Banū Hāshim, then for Quraysh, and then for the Arabs as a whole.
Al-Tirmidhī has transmitted—through the chain of Abū ʿAwānah, from Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād as well, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith—who said: al-Muṭṭalib ibn Abī Rabīʿah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib related to me that al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib entered upon
(1) Manuscript A clarifies that “the creation” is meant specifically as the children of Adam.
(2) Manuscript B inserts the phrase “peace be upon him.”
(3) The author treats the question of Arab superiority in detail in Majmuʿ al-Fatawa 15:331–32; 19:30; 27:472, and in Jamiʿ al-Rasaʾil, first collection, ed. Muhammad Rashad Salim, p. 286.
(4) His biography—and that of Yazid—has already been given; see the biographical index.
(5) This passage is likewise missing from manuscript B.
(6) Manuscripts B and Ṭ read “ʿAbd al-Muttalib,” which is plausible, since some reports state that his name was al-Muttalib and that he was also called ʿAbd al-Muttalib, as will be noted below.
(7) Manuscript Ṭ reads “ibn Rabiʿah,” omitting “Abi.”
(8) He is al-Muttalib—though some say ʿAbd al-Muttalib, the former being more likely—ibn Rabiʿah ibn al-Harith ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim al-Qurashi. A Companion, he is variously described as a youth or an adult during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. He lived in Medina, then moved to Syria under ʿUmar’s caliphate and settled in Damascus, where he died in 61 AH/680–81 CE; Muʿawiyah led his funeral prayer. See al-Isaba 2:430 (no. 5254); al-Taqrib 1:517 (no. 1291); and Usd al-Ghabah 3:331–32; 4:373–74.