Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Mandah narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Sālim narrated to us; al-Ḥusayn al-Raffāʾ narrated from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Anas.

Sulaymān—meaning al-Ṭabarānī—also related to us: ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Nājiyah narrated to us; Hishām ibn Yūnus al-Luʾluʾī narrated to us; Ḥusayn ibn Sulaymān al-Raffāʾ narrated from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Anas ibn Mālik, who said:

“I was with the Prophet ﷺ on the expedition of Tabūk when my flock scattered. A wolf came and snatched a ewe from it, and the shepherds chased after him. The wolf said, ‘It is a morsel Allah has provided for me—yet you are taking it away from me?’ The people were dumbfounded. The wolf added, ‘What amazes you about a talking wolf when revelation has descended upon Muḥammad—some believe in it while others reject it!’” (1)

Abū Nuʿaym then remarked: “Ḥusayn ibn Sulaymān alone narrates this report from ʿAbd al-Malik.”

I say: This Ḥusayn ibn Sulaymān al-Raffāʾ, also called al-Ṭalḥī, was a Kufan. Ibn ʿAdiyy cited several ḥadīths that he transmits from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, and then said that no one corroborates him in them (2).

Ibn ʿUmar’s report on the same incident:

Al-Bayhaqī said: Abū Saʿd al-Mālinī informed us; Abū Aḥmad ibn ʿAdiyy informed us; ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Abī Dāwūd al-Sijistānī narrated to us; Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abī ʿĪsā narrated to us; Jaʿfar ibn Ḥasan narrated to us; Abū Ḥasan informed me; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥarmalah narrated from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, who said:

Ibn ʿUmar related: “During the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ there was a shepherd. A wolf came and carried off a sheep, and the shepherd leapt after it until he wrenched it from its mouth. The wolf said to him, ‘Do you not fear Allah, depriving me of a provision that Allah granted me, snatching it away from me?’ The shepherd replied, ‘How astonishing—a wolf that speaks!’ The wolf said, ‘Shall I not point you to something even more amazing than my speech? That man among the date-palms informs people of the earliest and the latest events; his words are more wondrous than mine!’ The shepherd set off, reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, told him what had happened, and accepted Islam. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, ‘Convey this to the people.’” (3)

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAdiyy said: Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dāwūd told us: “The descendants of that shepherd are known as Banū Mukallim al-Dhiʾb (‘the clan of the man to whom the wolf spoke’). They possess wealth and livestock and belong to Khuzaʿah. The name of the man to whom the wolf spoke was Ahbān, and Muḥammad ibn Ashʿath al-Khuzaʿī was among his descendants.”

Al-Bayhaqī (4) commented: “This shows how widely the story was circulated, and such renown lends strength to the ḥadīth.”