(1) This hadith, narrated from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—is found in al-Bukhārī, 3/144 (Book of Manumission, chapter “Reports Concerning Manumission and Its Merit”); and Muslim, 2/1147–1148 (Book of Manumission, chapter “The Merit of Manumission”). Muslim also narrates a hadith with the same meaning through four chains, all from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him. The chain closest to the version cited by Ibn Taymiyya is: Zayd ibn Aslam, from Alī ibn Husayn, from Sa'īd ibn Marjāna, from Abū Hurayra. In the version agreed upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, Sa'īd ibn Marjāna heard the hadith from Abū Hurayra, who narrated it from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He then says: “So I went to Alī ibn Husayn. Alī ibn Husayn—may Allah be pleased with them both—then went to a slave of his for whom Abd Allah ibn Ja'far had offered ten thousand dirhams or one thousand dinars, and emancipated him.” The hadith is also found in Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 3/49 (Book of Vows, chapter “The Reward of One Who Emancipates a Slave”). A hadith with the same meaning, narrated from Wāthila ibn al-Asqa—may Allah be pleased with him—is found in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4/39 (Book of Manumission, chapter “The Reward of Manumission”). (2) The hadith is found in Muslim, 4/1750–1751 (Book of Greetings, chapter “The Prohibition of Soothsaying and Consulting Soothsayers”). Its wording is: “… Ibn Shihāb reported: Alī ibn Husayn narrated to me that Abd Allah ibn Abbās said: A man from among the Ansār Companions of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—informed me that, one night, while they were sitting with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—a shooting star flashed and lit up the sky. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—asked them, ‘What did you use to say during al-Jāhiliyya (the pre-Islamic period) when something like this occurred?’ They replied, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best. We used to say: “Tonight a great man has been born and a great man has died.”’ The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then said, ‘They are not hurled because of anyone’s death or birth…’” The remainder of the hadith follows. Ahmad also narrated it with the same meaning in his Musnad (al-Ma'ārif ed.), 3/268–269 (no. 1882; see the commentary); and al-Tirmidhī in his Sunan, 5/40–41 (Book of Tafsīr, Sūrat Saba). (3) The text within square brackets appears only in manuscript (Ayn).