548 — “May Allah curse the scorpion: it spares neither one who is praying nor anyone else. Then he called for water and salt, and began rubbing the affected spot while reciting: ‘Say: O disbelievers’; ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak’; and ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind.’”

Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Muʿjam al-Saghir (p. 117), as did Abu Nuʿaym in Akhbar Asbahan (2/223) and Abu Muhammad al-Khallal in Fadaʾil Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad (f. 202/1), through several routes from Muhammad ibn Fudayl, from Mutarrif, from al-Minhal ibn ʿAmr, from Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, from ʿAli, who said: “A scorpion stung the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was praying. When he finished, he said …” He then mentioned it.

Al-Tabarani said: “No one narrated it from Mutarrif except Ibn Fudayl.”

I say: He was trustworthy and among the narrators of both al-Bukhari and Muslim, as were those above him in the chain, except for al-Minhal, from whom Muslim did not narrate.

Ibn Abi Shaybah also narrated it in al-Musannaf (12/152/2): “ʿAbd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman informed us, from Mutarrif,” with the same chain, except that he did not mention ʿAli in it. This does not detract from the connected version, in accordance with the established principle that an addition made by a trustworthy narrator is accepted—especially since the hadith has a corroborating narration from ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud with similar wording, including: “Then he ordered salt, which was put into water. He placed his hand in it and kept rubbing the place where he had been stung, while reciting …” But it does not mention: “Say: O disbelievers.”

Ibn ʿAdi narrated it in al-Kamil (f. 83/1) with a weak chain of transmission.

549 — “Shall I tell you who the believer is? He is the one whom people trust with their wealth and their lives. The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe; the mujahid is the one who strives against his own self in obedience to Allah; and the emigrant is the one who abandons errors and sins.”

Imam Ahmad (6/21) narrated it: “ʿAli ibn Ishaq related to us; ʿAbdullah related to us; Layth informed us:”