In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad it is related that Nuʿaym al-Mujammir, the narrator of the report, said: “I do not know whether the words, ‘Whoever among you is able to lengthen his ghurra, let him do so,’ are from the Prophet ﷺ, or something Abu Hurayrah added on his own.”

Ibn al-Qayyim remarks: “Our teacher used to say that this phrase cannot be from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for the ghurra is not found on the hand, nor on the face, and it cannot be lengthened; and if it were on the head it would no longer be called a ghurra.”

He then versified in his Nuniyyah:

Guard well the limits set by God—do not transgress,
Nor tilt toward deficiency or slight.
Look to the Prophet’s practice: there you will find
The purpose made plain and the guidance bright.
‘Whoever can extend his ghurra,’—this phrase
Remains with the narrator; it does not rise to Prophetic height.
The soundest view: in wudu our washing ends
At elbows and at ankles—this is right.
Such is what the Most Merciful fixed in the Qur’an;
From the Qur’an, therefore, do not take flight.
Lengthening the blazes is impossible, ever—
A truth that stands in the clearest light.
Abu Hurayrah spoke it from his own reserve,
And those of insight discerned the sight.
Nuʿaym, the transmitter, doubted its ascription,
And al-Shaybani narrated the same insight.