1—His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “I am but a mercy bestowed.” p. 13
Authentic. Ibn Saʿd narrated it in al-Tabaqāt (1/192, Beirut edition) by way of Abū Sālih, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said—and he cited the hadith. This is a sound chain for a mursal report. Al-Hākim and others also narrated it with a continuous chain through another route, from Abū Sālih, from Abū Hurayra, traced back to the Prophet with the same wording. Al-Hākim said: “It is authentic according to the criteria of both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, for they both cited Mālik ibn Suʿayr as evidence, and the solitary narration of a reliable transmitter is accepted.” Al-Dhahabī concurred with him.
I say: This assessment is open to criticism on two grounds:
First, al-Bukhārī did not cite Ibn Suʿayr as primary evidence; he cited him only in corroborating narrations. Muslim cited him only in the introduction to his Sahih.
Second, Ibn Suʿayr had a degree of weakness, though his hadiths are sound. Wakīʿ, however, contradicted him by narrating it through his chain to Abū Sālih as a mursal report, as stated above. Nevertheless, it has been narrated through three routes from Wakīʿ, from Abū Sālih, from Abū Hurayra, with a continuous chain, just like Ibn Suʿayr’s narration. His report is thereby strengthened. I have documented these routes—which are found in manuscript sources such as Ibn al-Aʿrābī’s al-Muʿjam—in The Series of Authentic Hadiths (485).
2—(The hadith: “Whatever Allah has made lawful in His Book is lawful, and whatever He has forbidden is forbidden. Whatever He has left unmentioned is pardoned, so accept Allah’s pardon. Indeed, Allah would never forget anything.” He then recited: “And never is your Lord forgetful” [Surah Maryam, 64]. Al-Hākim narrated it and graded it authentic, and al-Bazzār also narrated it.) p. 20
Sound. Al-Hākim narrated it (2/375) by way of ʿĀsim ibn Rajāʾ ibn Haywa, from his father, from Abū al-Dardāʾ—may Allah be pleased with him—who traced the hadith back to the Prophet. He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabī concurred with him.