Ismā‘īl al-Jurjānī informed us in writing that Abū Tāhir Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Wā‘iz had informed them: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mun‘im informed us; al-Qāsim ibn Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Umar informed us: My father narrated to me, from his father Muhammad, from his father ‘Abd Allāh, from his father Muhammad (1), from his father ‘Umar, who said:
Al-Husayn ibn ‘Alī said: I heard Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī say: ‘I visited the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and found his head resting in ‘Alī’s lap. The sun had already set. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—awoke and said: O ‘Alī, have you prayed ‘Asr?
He replied: No, Messenger of Allah, I have not prayed. I was reluctant to lift your head from my lap while you were in pain.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: Supplicate, O ‘Alī, that the sun be returned to you (2).
(* ‘Alī said: Messenger of Allah, you supplicate, and I will say Āmīn (Amen) (3).
He said: My Lord, ‘Alī is obeying You and Your Messenger, so return the sun for him.’ *) (4)
Abū Sa‘īd said: By Allah, I heard the sun creaking like a pulley until it returned, white and clear.”
I say: Nothing can be established on the strength of a chain like this. Many of its transmitters are not known for uprightness, accuracy, or the transmission of knowledge (5), nor are they mentioned in scholarly works. As for its many transmitters (6), even if only one of them were of this standing, the report would not be established. How much more so when many—or most—of them are like this, and when they include someone known for lying, such as ‘Amr ibn Thābit?!