—and it was set before him. He then said,
“O Allah, bring to me the most beloved of Your creation to You so that he may eat with me.”

Anas continued: ʿAli came and knocked at the door. I asked, “Who is it?” He replied, “It is ʿAli.” I said, “The Messenger of Allah is busy,” and I did the same three times. When he came the fourth time, he struck the door with his foot and entered. The Prophet ﷺ said,
“What kept you back?”
He answered, “I came three times but Anas held me off.”
The Prophet ﷺ asked,
“What made you do that [O Anas]?”
I replied, “I had hoped it would be a man from my own people.”

Al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī (1) also narrated this report: from ʿAbdān ibn Yazīd, from Yaʿqūb al-Daqqāq, from Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Shāmī, from Abū Tūbah al-Rubayʿ ibn Nāfiʿ, from Ḥamsīn ibn Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Anas; he then said, “We know it only through this chain.”

Ibn ʿAsākir (2) likewise cited it on the authority of al-Ḥārith ibn Nabḥān, from Ismāʿīl—a man of Kūfah—from Anas ibn Mālik.

It is also transmitted by Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Mahraqānī, from al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr (3) ibn Ismāʿīl Abū Sulaymān, the brother of Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān al-Rāzī, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān, from Anas; and by Sulaymān ibn Qurram, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Sulamī, from Abū Ḥudhayfah al-ʿUqaylī, from Anas.

Abū Yaʿlā said: “Abū Hishām narrated to us; Ibn Fuḍayl narrated to us; Muslim al-Mallāʾī narrated to us; from Anas who said: Umm Ayman presented to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a roasted bird. He said,
‘O Allah, bring to me the one whom You love to eat with me from this bird.’
Anas said: ʿAli came and sought permission to enter. I said, ‘He is occupied (4),’ so he went back. He returned and asked permission again, and I said, ‘He is occupied,’ so he went back. He returned a third time and I said, ‘He is occupied,’ so he went back. He came once more and asked permission; the Prophet ﷺ heard his voice and said, ‘Let him in.’ He entered while the dish was still before the Prophet, ate from it, and praised Allah.

These are numerous routes from Anas ibn Mālik, and each of them is weak and open to criticism.

Our teacher Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Dhahabī (5)—in a booklet he compiled on this ḥadith after citing several chains similar to those we have mentioned—said: “This ḥadith is also reported through spurious or obscure routes via Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf, Abū ʿIṣām Khālid ibn ʿUbayd, Dīnār Abū Kaysān (6), Ziyād ibn Muḥammad al-Thaqafī, Ziyād al-ʿAbasī, Ziyād ibn al-Munḏir, Saʿd ibn Maysarah al-Bakrī, Sulaymān al-Taymī, Sulaymān ibn ʿAlī al-Amīr, Salamah ibn Wardān, Ṣabāḥ ibn Muḥārib, Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif, Abū al-Zinād, ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn ʿĀmir, ʿUmar ibn Rāshid, and ʿUmar ibn Abī Ḥafṣ al-Thaqafī the blind.”