Al-Bukhārī relates in his Ṣaḥīḥ(1) on the authority of Muʿāwiyah that he used to say about Kaʿb al-Aḥbār: “Indeed, we would sometimes discover falsehood in what he reported,”(2) meaning in the material he transmitted, not that he knowingly fabricated it. Allah knows best.
We shall therefore quote what many eminent early scholars have transmitted from him, then follow it with Prophetic reports that either corroborate or invalidate it. Whatever remains—neither confirmed nor denied—we leave as is. Allah’s help is sought, and upon Him we rely.
Al-Bukhārī said: Qutaybah narrated to us; Mughīrah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qurashī narrated to us; from Abū’l-Zinād; from al-Aʿraj; from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in a Book that is with Him above the Throne: ‘My mercy has prevailed over My wrath.’”(3)
Muslim and al-Nasā’ī likewise transmitted it from Qutaybah.(4)
Al-Bukhārī then said,(5)
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Chapter(6)
What Has Been Reported Concerning the Seven Earths
And His—exalted is He—word:
“Allah is the One who created seven heavens and, from the earth, their like; His command descends between them so that you may know that Allah is Powerful over all things and that Allah has encompassed everything in knowledge.” (al-Ṭalāq 65:12)
(1) Narrated by al-Bukhari in al-Fath (13:282), under the chapter al-Iʿtisam (Seeking Refuge): “The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Do not ask the People of the Book about anything,’ with the wording, ‘And yet We test him thereby with falsehood.’”
(2) From the printed edition, which agrees with al-Bukhari’s wording.
(3) Al-Bukhari also records it in his Sahih (3194), under Badʼ al-Khalq (The Beginning of Creation): chapter “What is reported concerning the verse, ‘And He is the One Who begins creation and then restores it, and that is easy for Him.’” He transmits it by other routes from Abu Hurayra (7404), in the Book of Tawhid: chapter “Allah warns you by Himself”; and (7422) chapter “His Throne was upon the water, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne”; and (7453) chapter “And indeed Our Word has already gone forth to Our servants, the Messengers”; and (7553) chapter “Nay, but it is a Glorious Qur’an in a Preserved Tablet.”
(4) Muslim in his Sahih (2751), in the Book of Repentance: chapter “On the vastness of Allah’s mercy preceding His wrath,” containing “My mercy prevails over My wrath.” An-Nasa’i in al-Kubra (7750). Ibn Mājah by various chains: no. 189 in al-Muqaddima on what the Jahmiyyah denied; and no. 4295 in al-Zuhd, chapter 35, “What is hoped of Allah’s mercy on the Day of Resurrection.” Ahmad in his Musnad (2:242; 2:258; 2:260; 2:313; 2:358; 2:381; 2:397; 2:433; 2:466). At-Tirmidhi (3543) in al-Daʿawat, chapter 100, “Allah created a hundred mercies…,” all from the hadith of Abu Hurayra; he comments, “This is a hasan sahih gharib hadith.”
(5) Al-Bukhari (3195) in Badʼ al-Khalq.
(6) The word “chapter” (bab) was omitted in the printed text.