Al-Musnad: Bukr ibn Khunis al-Kufi, the devout worshipper who settled in Baghdad. He narrated from Layth ibn Abi Sulaym, Thabit al-Banani, and others; among his students were Abu al-Nasr, Waki‘, Ibrahim ibn Tahman, et al. Al-Nasa’i and others judged him weak; al-Daraqutni declared him unreliable; Abu Hatim considered him acceptable but not strong; Ibn Abi Shaybah labeled him a weak narrator noted for his piety and asceticism. See Mizan al-I‘tidal by al-Dhahabi, vol.1, p.344; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar, vol.1, pp.481–482. (1) A segment of the hadith recorded by al-Tirmidhi in the chain mentioned by the Shaykh, beginning: “Allah has not permitted His servant in anything…”. See Sunan al-Tirmidhi, vol.5, p.176, Book of the Virtues of the Qur’an, ch.17, hadith no.2911. Al-Hindi in Kanz al-‘Ummal renders it: “No deed brings the servants nearer to Allah than that which proceeds from Him” (1/529). Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi includes it in Tarikh Baghdad, vol.7, p.88. The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) will quote it in full with his assessment and al-Tirmidhi’s comments in a few lines. (2) In Sunan al-Tirmidhi: “Abu al-Nadr said: ‘He means the Qur’an.’” (3) Ibn al-Salah states in ‘Ulum al-Hadith, p.47: “Its version upon which there is no dispute is the report of the great successor (tābi‘) who met and sat with a group of Companions—such as ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Adi ibn al-Khayyar and then Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib and their peers—when he prefaced it with: ‘The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said…’. It is the accepted practice to treat all successors equally in this regard—may Allah be pleased with them.” (4) The text within parentheses is an addition by S. and T.; their authentication was discussed above on p.366. (5) In the original manuscript: Hunaysh; in the T manuscript: Hunays; S. confirms Hunaysh. The identification was given above.