Al-Bayhaqī (1), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “A report of similar wording is also related from Abū Hurayrah about al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī—concerning his prayer for rain and the troops’ walking upon the water, though not the episode of his death.

Al-Bukhārī (2) records another chain for this incident in his History. Ibn Abī al-Dunyā likewise transmitted it: from Abū Kurayb, from Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl, from al-Ṣalt ibn Maṭar al-ʿIjlī, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Sahm, from Sahm ibn Minjāb, who said:

“We campaigned with al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī,” and he told the story. In his supplication he said:

“O All-Knowing, O Forbearing, O Exalted, O Tremendous! We are Your servants, fighting in Your path against Your enemy. Send us rain from which we may drink and perform ablution, and once we have departed, grant no one else a share of it.”

At the sea he prayed: “Make for us a passage to Your enemy.”

Regarding death he prayed: “Hide my corpse and let no one look upon my nakedness,” and no one was able to find him (3). Allah knows best.

Another account:

Al-Bayhaqī said: Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn Bishrān informed us; Ismāʿīl al-Ṣaffār informed us; al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿUthmān narrated to us; Ibn Numayr narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from one of his companions, who said:

“We reached the Tigris while it was in full flood and the Persians were on the opposite bank. A man from among the Muslims said, ‘In the name of Allah,’ plunged in on his horse, and rose upon the water. The people followed, saying, ‘In the name of Allah,’ and they too rose upon the surface. The Persians looked on and cried, ‘Dīwān! Dīwān!’ (4) and then scattered in all directions.

“Nothing was lost to the Muslims except a cup that had been hanging from a saddle tassel. When they had crossed, they seized the booty and divided it, and one of them would call out, ‘Who will trade yellow for white?’”

Another account:

Al-Bayhaqī (5) said: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī informed us; Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allah ibn Muḥammad al-Samarrī informed us; Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sarrāj narrated to us; al-Faḍl ibn Sahl and Hārūn ibn ʿAbd Allah both said: Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us; Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah narrated:

“Abū Muslim al-Khawlānī came to the Tigris while it was sweeping along logs in its swell. He walked upon the water, then turned to his companions and said, ‘Is anything of your property missing that we might pray to Allah, exalted is He?’”

Al-Bayhaqī concluded: This chain of transmission is sound.