Abū Ḥātim Ibn Ḥibbān also recorded this ḥadīth in his Ṣaḥīḥ, saying (1): “Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Khuzaymah narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us; Ṣafwān ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Dhubāb narrated to us, from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘When Allah created Adam and breathed the soul into him, he sneezed and said, “All praise is to Allah,” praising Allah by His permission. His Lord said to him, “May your Lord have mercy upon you, O Adam. Go to those angels—to that company of them who are sitting—and greet them with salām.”
He went and said, “Peace be upon you.” They answered, “And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.” He then returned to his Lord, who said, “This is your greeting and the greeting of your children among themselves.”
Allah—while both of His Hands were closed—said, “Choose whichever of them you wish.” Adam replied, “I choose the Right Hand of my Lord,” and both Hands of my Lord are right and blessed. He then opened them, and there appeared within them Adam and his offspring.
Adam asked, “My Lord, who are these?” He said, “These are your descendants, and the lifespan of every one of them is written between his eyes.” Adam noticed among them a man, the brightest of them—or among the brightest—yet only forty years were written for him.
He said, “My Lord, who is this?” He answered, “This is your son David; Allah has decreed his lifespan to be forty years.” Adam said, “My Lord, increase his lifespan.” He replied, “That is what has been decreed for him.” Adam said, “Then I have given him sixty years from my own life.”
Allah said, “So be it. Dwell in Paradise.” Adam lived there as long as Allah willed, then he was sent down from it.
Adam used to keep count of his years. The Angel of Death came to him, and Adam said, “You have come too soon; one thousand years had been written for me.” The angel replied, “Yes, but you gave sixty of those years to your son David.” Adam denied it, so his progeny denied it; he forgot, and his progeny forgot. On that very day writing and witnesses were prescribed.’
This is Ibn Ḥibbān’s exact wording.
Al-Tirmidhī said (2): “ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us; Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; Hishām ibn Saʿd narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘When Allah created Adam, He passed His Hand over his back, and every soul He would create from his descendants until the Day of Resurrection fell from his back. Between the eyes of each person He placed a gleam (3) of light. He then presented them to Adam.
Adam said, “My Lord, who are these?” He replied, “These are your descendants.” Adam saw among them a man whose gleam between his eyes pleased him. He asked, “My Lord, who is this?” He said, “This is a man from the last nations of your progeny, called David.”
Adam said, “My Lord, how long is his life?” He said, “Sixty years.” Adam said, “My Lord, add forty years to his life from mine.”
When Adam’s term was completed, the Angel of Death came to him. Adam said, “Is there not still forty years remaining of my life?” He replied, “Did you not give them to your son David?”
Adam denied it, so his descendants denied it; Adam forgot, and his descendants forgot; Adam erred, and his descendants erred.’
Al-Tirmidhī then remarked, “Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.” He added: “This narration has reached us through several chains from Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ.”