He adds: “Had Ibn al-Jawzī not cited him, I would not have mentioned him at all.”

Perhaps for that very reason al-Ḥākim went on to concur with him after quoting the ḥadith, saying: “Its chain is sound, and both Abū Tamīlah and al-Zubayr are trustworthy men from Marw!”

Even so, one’s mind does not rest with the authenticity of this report, first because this al-Zubayr is hardly known, and second because it clashes with the rigorously authentic narration of Thābit from Anas: “He tied it to the ring by which the Prophets used to tether their mounts.”

The report does have a number of supporting narrations, as will be shown, God willing.

Al-Zurqānī, in his commentary on al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyyah (6/49), went to great lengths—following his source text—to reconcile the two ḥadiths, but there is no need to reproduce his attempt here.