for example, the barni (1) and the ajwa dates are better than it. The only ḥadiths the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—narrated in this regard concern those kinds, as recorded in the Ṣaḥīḥ (2): “Whoever eats seven ajwa dates first thing in the morning will not be harmed that day by poison or sorcery.” Nothing of the sort has been transmitted about the ṣayḥānī (3) date.
As for the claim made by some people that it once cried out to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that is sheer ignorance. The date was called that simply because of its dryness; the Arabs say taṣawwaḥa al-tamru when a date becomes dry. The matter is similar to what some other uninformed individuals allege: that the spring of al-Zarqāʾ (4) accompanied him from
= al-saihani is a variety of date that is black in colour, firm when chewed and very sweet. I add: it was called “saihani” because Saihan was the name of a ram that used to be tied to a palm-tree in Madinah; the tree later yielded dates that were therefore ascribed to Saihan.
(1) The manuscripts J and D read al-barni. Al-Azhari explains in Tahdhib al-Lughah, 15/154: “al-barni is a kind of date, reddish with a yellow hue, with abundant flesh and a pleasant sweetness.”
(2) Hadith reported by al-Bukhari, 5445, and Muslim, 2047, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him.
(3) Manuscript D reads al-sihafi.
(4) ʿAyn al-Zarqa, also called ʿAyn al-Azraq, is a spring in Madinah dug on the order of the caliph Muʿawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and supervised by his governor Marwan ibn al-Hakam. It originates in Qubaʾ, being channelled from a large well west of the Qubaʾ mosque and flowing to the musalla. The spring was named al-Zarqa because of the blue colour of Marwan ibn al-Hakam’s eyes. See: Ibn Najjar, Khulasat al-Wafa bi-Akhbar Dar al-Mustafa, 1/456.