—and twenty thousand. (1)

Al-Shāfiʿī—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away while the Muslims who had heard him and seen him numbered about sixty thousand.” (2)

Al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allāh remarked: “Hadith is transmitted on the authority of nearly five thousand Companions.”

I say: The Companions from whom Imām Aḥmad—despite the abundance of his narrations, his wide knowledge, his extensive travels, and his standing as an authority—actually related number nine-hundred and eighty-seven individuals. (3) The Six Books contain, in addition to that, reports from roughly another three hundred Companions as well. (4)

A number of ḥadith masters—may Allah be pleased with them—took special care to record their names and to note the dates of their deaths. Foremost among these are Shaykh Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Namrī in his work Al-Istīʿāb, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Mandah, and Abū Mūsā al-Madinī. Later, the ḥadith scholar ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jazarī—better known as Ibn al-Athīr (5)—gathered all of that material together and wove it into his book Al-Ghābah, excelling and benefiting, collecting and refining, attaining what he sought and hoped for. May Allah have mercy on him, reward him, and unite him with the Companions. Āmīn, Lord of all worlds.

Chapter (What is related of) (6) the relics of the Prophet ﷺ that were unique to him during his lifetime—his clothing, weapons, mounts (and other such things) (6) (those that fall under the same category and share the same meaning) (6)

The account of the signet ring he ﷺ used to wear (and the substance from which it was made) (6)

Abū Dāwūd devoted an independent book within his Sunan to this subject. We shall cite the choicest of what he recorded, adding whatever else we deem useful, while relying primarily on his transmission.

Abū Dāwūd (7) said: ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Muṭarrif al-Ruʾāsī narrated to us; ʿĪsā related from Saʿīd, from Qatādah, from Anas ibn Mālik, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ wished to write to some non-Arab rulers. He was told, ‘They do not read a letter unless it bears a seal.’ So he fashioned a ring of silver and engraved upon it: ‘Muḥammad, Messenger of Allah.’”

Al-Bukhārī (8) likewise narrated it from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Ḥammād, from Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ, from Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah, from Qatādah with this wording.