302 — (Hadith: “There are three things from which no one is free: suspicion, taking evil omens, and envy. If you become suspicious, do not seek to confirm it; if you take an evil omen, do not turn back; and if you feel envy, do not act wrongfully.” Al-Tabarānī.) p. 236

I have not found any hadith scholar who cited it in this wording as a narration of al-Tabarānī. Al-Haythamī alone attributed it to him in al-Majmaʿ (8/78), in the hadith of Hāritha ibn al-Nuʿmān, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“There are three things inseparable from my Ummah: taking evil omens, envy, and harboring bad suspicions.” A man asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what will rid a person of them when they are found in him?” He replied, “When you feel envy, seek Allah’s forgiveness; when you become suspicious, do not seek to confirm it (1); and when you take an evil omen, do not proceed.”

Al-Haythamī said: “Al-Tabarānī narrated it, and its chain contains Ismāʿīl ibn Qays al-Ansārī, who is weak.”

I say: It is found in al-Tabarānī’s al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (1/330), by way of Ismāʿīl ibn Qays al-Ansārī, who said: ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muhammad ibn Abī al-Rijāl narrated to me, from his father, from his grandfather Hāritha ibn al-Nuʿmān—with the same report. The remaining narrators in its chain are trustworthy, apart from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qarmatī, al-Tabarānī’s teacher. Al-Khatīb included his biography in Tārīkh Baghdād (5/433–434), but mentioned neither criticism nor accreditation concerning him.

I also found two corroborating reports narrated directly from the Prophet by Successors. The closer of the two to the wording in the book is the report of al-Hasan al-Basrī, which he ascribed directly to the Prophet in the following words:

“There are three things from which this Ummah has not been free: envy, suspicion, and taking evil omens. Shall I not tell you the way out of them? If you become suspicious, do not seek to confirm it; if you feel envy, do not act wrongfully; and if you take an evil omen, proceed.”

He cited it in al-Jāmiʿ al-Saghīr from Rustah’s narration in al-Īmān.

The other corroborating report is narrated by Ismāʿīl ibn Umayya directly from the Prophet, with the wording:

“There are three things no child of Adam can escape: taking evil omens, harboring bad suspicions, and envy. What saves you from taking evil omens is not acting upon them; what saves you from harboring bad suspicions is not speaking of them; and what saves you from envy is not seeking to harm your brother.”

He cited it in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr (2/6/2) from al-Bayhaqī’s narration in Shuʿab al-Īmān.