Abī Rabāḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“Jibrīl came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: ‘O Muḥammad, convey my greetings to Muʿāwiyah and treat him well, for he is Allah’s trustee over His Book and revelation—how excellent a trustee he is.’”

Ibn ʿAsākir also cited this report through another route from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān. He then transmitted it as well through the narrations of ʿAlī and Jābir ibn ʿAbd-Allah, stating that “the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, consulted Jibrīl about appointing Muʿāwiyah as his scribe, and Jibrīl said, ‘Appoint him, for he is trustworthy.’” Yet the chains leading to them are peculiar. After that he quoted many other strange reports from ʿAlī—and likewise (1) from others as well (2).

Abū ʿAwānah related—from Sulaymān, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from ʿAbd-Allah ibn al-Ḥārith, from Zuhayr ibn al-Aqmar al-Zubaydī, from ʿAbd-Allah ibn ʿAmr—who said: “Muʿāwiyah used to write for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” (3)

Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī said: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣaydilānī narrated to us; al-Sarī ibn (4) ʿĀṣim narrated to us; ʿAbd-Allah ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr narrated to us, from his father, [from] (5) Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, [from his father] (6), from ʿĀʾishah, who said:

On the day allotted to Umm Ḥabībah, while the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was with her, someone knocked at the door. The Prophet said, “See who it is.” They replied, “It is Muʿāwiyah.” He said, “Allow him in.” He entered with a pen tucked behind his ear with which he would write (7). The Prophet asked, “What is this pen behind your ear, O Muʿāwiyah?” He replied, “A pen I have prepared for Allah and His Messenger.” The Prophet said, “May Allah reward you on behalf of His Prophet. By Allah, I appointed you to write only by revelation from Allah, and I do nothing, small or great, except by revelation from Allah. How will it be when Allah clothes you in a garment”—meaning the caliphate? Umm Ḥabībah thereupon rose, sat before him, and said, “O Messenger of Allah, will Allah really clothe my brother in a garment?” He replied, “Yes, but it will have certain flaws and flaws.” She said, “O Messenger of Allah, then pray to Allah for him.” He said, “O Allah, guide him with Your guidance, keep him far from ruin, and forgive him in the Hereafter and in the first life.”

Al-Ṭabarānī remarked: This narration is unique to al-Sarī ibn ʿĀṣim from ʿAbd-Allah ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr from Hishām.

After this, Ibn ʿAsākir cited numerous fabricated reports, and it is astonishing—given his vast learning and memorization—that he did not point them out or warn of their strangeness and the weakness of their transmitters; Allah alone grants success in attaining what is correct.

He further transmitted (8) through the route of Abū Hurayrah, Anas, and Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ, in a marfūʿ report: “The custodians are three: Jibrīl, I, and Muʿāwiyah.” None of its chains are sound by any measure.

And from the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās: “The custodians are seven: the Pen, the Tablet, Isrāfīl, Mikāʾīl,