Yet that is what he said, even though the isnād in Abū Dāwūd’s version is broken, as noted earlier—so how can it be rated ḥasan? Al-Nawawī then said:

“The scholars have unanimously agreed that visiting al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, praying there, and recognizing its virtue are recommended. Allah the Exalted says: ‘Glory be to Him who carried His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed’ (al-Isrāʾ 17:1).”

He next cited the ḥadith about “saddling mounts,” which will be mentioned later, together with this ḥadith and the one that follows it:

“When Solomon son of David completed the building of Bayt al-Maqdis, he asked Allah for three things: he asked Allah for a judgement that would coincide with His judgement, and it was granted to him; he asked Allah for a sovereignty that no one after him would ever possess, and it was granted to him; and when he finished constructing the mosque he asked Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that no one should come to it, moved by nothing but the desire to pray therein, without being freed from his sins as on the day his mother bore him. [We hope that Allah has granted him that request as well.]”

This ḥadith was recorded by al-Nasāʾī (1/112–113) through Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī—with his wording—by Ibn Mājah (1/430) through Abū Zurʿah al-Shaybānī Yaḥyā ibn Abī ʿAmr, by Aḥmad (2/176) through Rabīʿah ibn Yazīd, and by al-Ḥākim (1/30) from him and from al-Shaybānī together—with the additional wording. All three transmit it from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Fīrūz al-Daylamī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, as a marfūʿ report. Al-Ḥākim said, “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and I know of no defect in it,” and al-Dhahabī concurred.

I say: As for the report’s authenticity, it is exactly as they have affirmed—there is no doubt about that; but as for its being