Its chain of transmission consists entirely of trustworthy narrators who meet the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and it is found only in al-Tirmidhī’s al-Shamāʾil (1) through Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr, from ʿAbd al-Razzāq. Ibn Ḥibbān likewise recorded it in his Ṣaḥīḥ (2).

Of the same kind is what al-Bukhārī relates in his Ṣaḥīḥ (3): there was a man called ʿAbd Allāh—nicknamed Ḥimār (“the Donkey”)—who used to make the Prophet ﷺ laugh. He was often brought in for drinking wine, and on one such occasion a man exclaimed, “May Allah curse him! How frequently he is brought in!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Do not curse him, for he loves Allah and His Messenger.”

A further example is reported by Imām Aḥmad (4): Ḥajjāj narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to me; from Thābit al-Bunānī; from Anas ibn Mālik: While the Prophet ﷺ was on a journey, a camel-driver was chanting for—or leading—his wives. Anas said, “The women’s mounts began to move ahead of him, so the Prophet ﷺ called out, ‘O Anjasha, take care—be gentle with the glass vessels!’ ”

This ḥadīth is also found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from Anas (5): “The Prophet ﷺ had a camel-driver who would chant for his wives; his name was Anjasha. When he chanted, the camels quickened their pace, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Easy there, Anjasha! Be gentle with the glass vessels!’ ” The term “glass vessels” refers to the women and was used by him as a playful turn of phrase. May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him always, until the Day of Judgment.

Among his noble character traits, good-natured humor, and exemplary manners is that he listened to ʿĀʾisha—may Allah be pleased with her—relate in full the story of Umm Zarʿ (6); in some versions it is he ﷺ who narrated it to her.

Another illustration is what Imām Aḥmad records (7): Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us; Abū ʿAqīl—meaning ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAqīl al-Thaqafī—narrated to us; Mujālid ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; from ʿĀmir; from Masrūq; from ʿĀʾisha who said: One night the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told his wives a story. One of the women said, “O Messenger of Allah, it sounds like the tale of Khurāfa.” He replied, “Do you know who Khurāfa was? Khurāfa was a man from the tribe of ʿUdhra whom the jinn captured in the pre-Islamic era. He remained among them for a long time, and when they returned him to mankind he began to recount the marvels he had witnessed among them. Hence people came to call any amazing story ‘the tale of Khurāfa.’ ”