Such was his statement. We have likewise transmitted the ḥadith through the chain of Ziyād ibn Khaythamah, from ʿUthmān ibn Abī Muslim, from Anas…; he related the report in full with wording identical to, or very close to, the version just cited.

Earlier, the same narration appeared in the transmission of al-Shāfiʿī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr. The transmitters differ concerning it, and some of them practiced tadlīs so that its true status would not be recognized, owing to the weakness that was suspected in it. Allah knows best.

The ḥāfiẓ Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī also recorded it in his Musnad, through Shaybān ibn Farrūkh, al-Ṣaʿiq ibn Ḥazn, ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥakam al-Bunānī, and Anas…; he set out the entire ḥadith. These are sound routes from Anas which corroborate the narration of ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmayr.

The ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraqutnī devoted special attention to this report and cited it through several isnāds.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Ḍiyāʾ said: “It has also come down through a good chain—which supports the report of ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmayr—from Anas ibn Mālik. Al-Ṭabarānī related it from Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr, from Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Karāmah, from Khālid ibn Makhlad al-Qaṭawānī, from ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ḥafṣ, from Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, from Anas…,” and he mentioned it.⦗1⦘

The same ḥadith was also narrated by Companions other than Anas.

Al-Bazzār said:

“We were told by Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar and Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-ʿUṣfurī⦗2⦘, who both said: We were told by Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr al-ʿAnbarī; he was told by Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mubārak, from al-Qāsim ibn Muṭayyib, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Wāʾil, from Hudhayfah, who said:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Gabriel came to me and spoke of the Day of Increase. Then Allah—exalted is He—reveals to the bearers of the Throne that they should lift the veils between Him and them. The very first thing the inhabitants of Paradise hear from Him is: ‘Where are My servants who obeyed Me in the unseen, never having seen Me, who believed My messengers and followed My command? Ask of Me, for this is the Day of Increase.’

“They will all reply with one voice: ‘We are content with You; be pleased with us.’ He will say again: ‘O people of Paradise, had I not been pleased with you I would not have made you dwell in My Paradise. This is the Day of Increase, so ask of Me.’ They will all answer together: ‘Show us Your Face, our Lord, that we may look upon it.’

“So He removes the veils and discloses Himself to them, and they are enveloped by such light that, were it not for Allah’s decree that they shall never die, they would be consumed by it. Then it will be said to them: ‘Return to your dwellings,’ and they will return. Every seven days they will have a day on which He manifests Himself to them; that day is Friday.” ⦗3⦘