1052—‘Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad informed us; he said: Al-Husayn ibn Isma‘il informed us; he said: Abu al-Ash‘ath narrated to us; he said: Abu ‘Amir narrated to us.

1053—And ‘Ubayd Allah informed us; he said: Ahmad ibn al-‘Ala’ informed us; he said: Abu al-Ash‘ath narrated to us; he said: Abu ‘Amir narrated to us, from al-Zubayr ibn ‘Abd Allah, who said: Ja‘far ibn Mus‘ab narrated to me; he said: I heard ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr narrate from ‘A’ishah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said:

“When Allah wills to create a human being, He sends an angel, who enters the womb and asks, ‘My Lord, what will it be?’ He says, ‘A boy or a girl,’ or whatever He wills to create in the womb. The angel asks, ‘My Lord, wretched or blessed?’ He says, ‘Wretched or blessed.’ The angel asks, ‘My Lord, what is his lifespan?’ He says, ‘Such-and-such.’ The angel asks, ‘What will his character be? What will his traits be?’ He says, ‘Such-and-such.’ Thus, there is nothing except that it is created with him in the womb.”

Their wordings are similar, though the wording given is that of Ahmad.