(1) K reads: “Thus, if he was the one among all creation most beloved to Allah Most High.” (2) K reads: “to be the Imam.” (3) N and M read: “they narrated.” (4) M reads: “the bird.” (5) This hadith appears in abridged form in al-Tirmidhī’s *Sunan*, 5:300 (Book of Virtues, section on the virtues of ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, chap. 86, hadith no. 3805). Its text reads: “The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had a bird with him. He said, ‘O Allah, bring me the one of Your creation most beloved to You, so that he may eat this bird with me.’ ʿAlī then came and ate with him.” Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is a *gharīb* hadith. We know it as a report of al-Suddī only through this route. This hadith has also been narrated from Anas through more than one route.” The hadith is also found in al-Shawkānī’s *al-Fawāʾid al-Majmūʿa*, pp. 382–383. Al-Shawkānī said: “It is stated in *al-Mukhtasar*: ‘It has many chains, all of them weak.’ Ibn al-Jawzī included it in *al-Mawduʿāt*. Al-Hākim, however, included it in *al-Mustadrak* and declared it authentic, but many scholars objected to his authentication. Anyone wishing to examine the matter fully should consult al-Hākim’s biographical entry in *al-Nubalāʾ*.” I did not find this hadith in *al-Mawduʿāt*. I did, however, find another hadith similar in meaning, 1:376–377. Its text reads: Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Anas, pour out water for my ablution.” He then stood and prayed two rakʿas. He then said: “Anas, the first person to come to you through this door is the Commander of the Believers, the Master of the Messengers, the leader of those with radiant faces and limbs, and the Seal of the Legatees.” Anas said: “I prayed, ‘O Allah, let him be a man of the Ansār,’ when ʿAlī—peace be upon him—arrived.” He asked: “Who is this, Anas?” I replied: “ʿAlī.” He exclaimed with delight and embraced him. Ibn al-Jawzī said: “This hadith is not sound. Yahyā ibn Maʿīn said: ‘ʿAlī ibn ʿĀbis is worthless as a transmitter.’ Jābir al-Juʿfī also narrated this hadith from Abū al-Tufayl, from Anas. Zāʾida said: ‘Jābir was a liar.’ Abū Hanīfa said: ‘I never met a greater liar than him.’” Al-Suyūtī cited the hadith as narrated by Ibn al-Jawzī and stated that it was entirely fabricated in *al-Laʾālī al-Masnūʿa*, 1:359. He added to Ibn al-Jawzī’s remarks: “I say: It is stated in *al-Mīzān*: ‘This hadith is fabricated, and Ibrāhīm ibn Muhammad ibn Maymūn was one of the Shiite stalwarts.’ It is added in *al-Lisān*: ‘Al-Azdī mentioned him in *al-Duʿafāʾ* and said that his hadiths were rejected. I copied from the handwriting of our teacher, the hadith master Ibn al-Fadl, that he was not trustworthy.’ End quote.” Ibn ʿArrāq al-Kinānī also cited the hadith in a version similar to Ibn al-Jawzī’s in *Tanzīh al-Sharīʿa*, 1:357. Al-Haythamī cited it in *Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid*, 9:125, with the wording: “that he may eat some of this chick with me.” He then said: “One narration states: ‘I was with the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in a garden when a bird was brought to him.’ Another states: ‘Umm Ayman presented the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with a bird between two loaves. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then came and asked, “Do you have anything?” She brought him the bird.’ I say: A portion of it appears in al-Tirmidhī. It was narrated in abridged form by al-Tabarānī in *al-Awsat* and *al-Kabīr*, and in a much more abridged form by Abū Yaʿlā, except that his version states: ‘Abū Bakr then came, but he turned him away. ʿUmar then came, but he turned him away. Then ʿAlī came, and he admitted him.’ The chain of *al-Kabīr* contains Hammād ibn al-Mukhtār, whom I do not know. The remaining transmitters in its chain are transmitters of the *Sahīh*. Abū Yaʿlā’s transmitters are trustworthy, although some of them have weakness.” Al-Haythamī then cited another similar narration at 9:126 and concluded: “It was narrated by al-Bazzār; its chain contains Ismāʿīl ibn Salmān, who is rejected.” He thereafter cited two further versions of this hadith with different wording, 9:126, one from Safīna and the other from Ibn ʿAbbās, and stated that both contain weakness.