"We recounted1 the report in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) [one night]; the next morning we came back to him and he said, ‘Last night the prophets were presented to me along with their communities: a prophet would pass by accompanied by three men, another prophet would pass by accompanied by a small band…,’ and he went on to relate the rest of the narration."

I say: The ḥadith is found in Aḥmad 1/401 and 420 as a narration of ʿAbd Allah b. Masʿūd, not of Ibn ʿAbbās, contrary to what al-Ḥāfiẓ—may Allah have mercy on him—might lead one to assume by citing it under Ibn ʿAbbās’ report and commenting on it there without explicitly stating that it is traced back to Ibn Masʿūd. It is transmitted through al-Ḥasan—meaning al-Baṣrī—from ʿImrān on his (Ibn Masʿūd’s) authority. Al-Ḥasan is a mudallis, but in one of the chains Aḥmad pairs him with al-ʿAlāʾ b. Ziyād, who is trustworthy; thus the isnād is sound, and praise be to Allah.

It was also recorded by al-Ṭayālisī in his Musnad (352) and by Aḥmad as well (1/403, 454) through the route of Ḥammād b. Salamah, from ʿĀṣim b. Bahdalah, from Zirr b. Ḥubaysh, from ʿAbd Allah b. Masʿūd as a marfūʿ report, with the wording, “They were presented to me…,” and in another version, “I was shown the nations at the time of the pilgrimage…,” the same ḥadith in an abbreviated form.