Ibn Hishām (1) said: The meaning of this ḥadīth is clarified by ʿĀʾishah’s statement that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The grave has a constriction; had anyone been spared from it, it would have been Saʿd ibn Muʿādh.”

I add: This ḥadīth was transmitted by Imām Aḥmad (2), who said: Yaḥyā related to us, from Shuʿbah, from Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm, from Nāfiʿ, from ʿĀʾishah, who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The grave exerts a squeeze, and if anyone were to escape it, Saʿd ibn Muʿādh would have escaped.” The chain of transmission meets the requirements of the two Ṣaḥīḥs, except that Imām Aḥmad also narrated it through Ghundar, from Shuʿbah, from Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm, from an unnamed narrator, from ʿĀʾishah (3).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bazzār likewise reported it (4) on the authority of Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar:

[ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Ḥammād narrated to us; Dāwūd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us; ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿUmar narrated to us, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said:]
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “On the day Saʿd ibn Muʿādh died, seventy thousand angels descended to the earth who had never descended before, and the grave gave him a squeeze.” Nāfiʿ then wept.

This isnād is sound, though al-Bazzār remarked that others have related it from ʿUbaydullāh, from Nāfiʿ, as a mursal report.

Al-Bazzār also narrated (5) through Sulaymān ibn Sayf, from Abū ʿAṭṭāb, from Miskīn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “At Saʿd ibn Muʿādh’s death seventy thousand angels came down—angels who had never before set foot on the earth.” And when Saʿd was buried he added, “Glory be to Allah! If anyone could have escaped the grave’s squeeze, Saʿd would have escaped it.”

Al-Bazzār (6) further said:

[Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥafṣ narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl narrated to us; ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib narrated to us, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said:]
“The Throne shook out of love for Saʿd ibn Muʿādh’s meeting with Allah.” He explained, “What is meant is his bier,” and he cited the verse, “And he raised his parents upon the throne” (Yūsuf 12:100). He continued, “Its wooden planks split apart.” He also related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the grave and remained there for some time; when he emerged he was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what detained you?” He replied, “Saʿd was subjected to the grave’s squeeze …”