Abū Dāwūd likewise related the report, through Ibn Abī Shaybah from Wakīʿ (1).
Abū Yaʿlā said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Asmāʾ narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak (2) transmitted it to us, from Misʿar, who told me—through an unidentified shaykh—that he had heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, or Ibn ʿUmar, say: “In the Prophet’s ﷺ speech there was tartīl—or tarseel—that is, a deliberate, measured cadence.”
Imām Aḥmad said (3): ʿAbd al-Ṣamad narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us, from Thumāmah, from Anas, that whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ uttered a word he would repeat it three times, and when he approached a group of people he would greet them three times. Al-Bukhārī also recorded this (4) via ʿAbd al-Ṣamad.
Aḥmad further said (5): Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us; I heard Thumāmah ibn Anas relate that Anas, whenever he spoke, would speak three times—and he mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ, when he spoke, did so three times and would seek permission three times.
In the ḥadīth reported by al-Tirmidhī (6), through ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muthannā, from Thumāmah, from Anas, it is stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he spoke, would repeat the word three times so that it might be clearly understood. Al-Tirmidhī commented: “Ḥasan, Ṣaḥīḥ, Gharīb.”
The authentic collections also record that he said:
“I have been granted concise, all-encompassing speech, and I compress wisdom into brief form.” (7)(8)
(1) In al-Adab min Sunanihi (no. 4839).
(2) In the printed edition it reads “Hadathana ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ar,” which is undoubtedly corrupt, as no transmitter by that name is known. I have therefore supplied in brackets the missing portion to complete the isnād. The true transmitter is ‘Abdullah ibn Muḥammad ibn Asmā’, who reports only from someone named ‘Abdullah—namely, ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubārak (Tahdhib al-Kamal 16:45). As for Mas‘ar, three men named ‘Abdullah narrate from him—‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubārak, ‘Abdullah ibn Namīr, and ‘Abdullah ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Mughīrah (Tahdhib al-Kamal 27:464)—and the only one common to both chains is ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubārak. Further confirmation is that Ibn al-Mubārak recorded it in his Kitāb al-Zuhd via this same chain (p. 147). Ibn Abī Shaybah also transmits it in al-Musannaf on Wakī‘’s authority from Mas‘ar (9:14), and Abū Dāwūd reports it from Abū Kuraib from Muḥammad ibn Bishr from Mas‘ar, reading “I heard an old man in the mosque” and attributing it clearly to Jābir (no. 4838). The transmissions of Wakī‘ and Ibn al-Mubārak are the most precise. This version is weak due to the unknown status of “Shaykh Mas‘ar.” May Allah guide us to the correct view. (Bishr)
(3) Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (3:213).
(4) In his Sahih, hadith numbers 94 and 95 under the chapter “Knowledge.”
(5) Narrated by Imam Ahmad in the Musnad (3:221)—it is a sound (sahih) hadith.
(6) Narrated by al-Tirmidhi in al-Jami‘ (no. 3640).
(7) In edition A: “wa-akhtasara ilayya al-hikma ikhtisaran” (“He concisely summarized the wisdom for me”).
(8) The first half of the hadith—the Prophet’s ﷺ words “Utitu jawami‘ al-kalim” (“I have been given the essence of speech”)—is recorded in al-Bukhari (2977) and Muslim (523). However, I did not find the second half with this wording in the two Sahih collections. It may read “wa-akhtasara al-kalam ikhtisaran” (“and he summarized speech concisely”). The most widespread version is “wa-ukhtusira li al-kalam ikhtisaran” (“and speech was made concise for me”), which al-Askari relates in Al-Amthal as a mursal report; it is weak.