Moses to Moses:
“Make for us a god just as they have gods.”
He replied, “You are a people devoid of knowledge.”
(Qur’an 7:138)

The Prophet ﷺ added, “Such are the precedents; you will surely follow the ways of those who came before you.”

Al-Tirmidhī transmitted this ḥadīth through Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Makhzūmī from Sufyān, and al-Nasāʾī through Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ from ʿAbd al-Razzāq from Maʿmar—both of them from al-Zuhrī—in the wording reported by Ibn Isḥāq. Al-Tirmidhī declared it “sound and authentic (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).”(1)
Ibn Abī Ḥātim likewise included it in his Tafsīr(2) through Kathīr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, from his father, from his grandfather, with a Prophetic chain of transmission.

Abū Dāwūd(3) said: Abū Tūbah narrated to us; Muʿāwiyah ibn Sallām narrated to us; from Zayd ibn Sallām who heard from Abū Sallām; from al-Salūlī, who related that Sahl ibn Ḥanẓaliyyah said:

“We travelled with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the day of Ḥunayn and marched a long distance until evening. When the time for Ẓuhr arrived with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a mounted man came and said,

‘O Messenger of Allah, I rode ahead of you until I climbed such-and-such a mountain. There I found Hawāzin, to the last man, together with their women, camels, and sheep, all gathered at Ḥunayn.’

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and said, ‘That will be the booty of the Muslims tomorrow, if Allah wills.’

He then asked, ‘Who will stand guard over us tonight?’

Anas ibn Abī Marthad replied, ‘I will, O Messenger of Allah.’

The Prophet said, ‘Mount!’ So he mounted his horse and came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who instructed him, ‘Face this ravine and remain at its summit, and let no attack come upon us from your direction tonight.’

When morning came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out to his place of prayer and performed two rakaʿahs. He then asked, ‘Have you perceived your horseman?’ They answered, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we have perceived nothing.’ The call to prayer was given, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began to pray, repeatedly glancing toward the ravine. Once he had finished, he said, ‘Rejoice! Your horseman has arrived.’

We looked through the trees in the ravine, and there he was, approaching until he stood before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘I went until I was at the very top of the ravine, as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded me. At daybreak I ascended both sides of it and looked, but saw no one.’

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, ‘Did you dismount during the night?’ He replied, ‘No, except to pray or relieve myself.’

The Prophet ﷺ then said, ‘Paradise is guaranteed for you; after this you need do nothing more.’

Al-Nasāʾī(6) also narrated it through Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr al-Ḥarrānī, from Abū Tūbah al-Rabīʿ ibn Nāfiʿ, with the same chain.