–88), and al-Daylamī in Musnad al-Firdaws (1/1/113, its abridgement), through Muslim ibn Khālid, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Sumayy, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said it. Al-Ḥākim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic, and it has an authentic supporting report that meets Muslim’s criteria, which was narrated to us by …” He then cited it through Ibn ʿAjlān, from Saʿīd, from Abū Hurayrah, in a report traced back to the Prophet, and quoted it. Al-Dhahabī concurred with him.

His statement that it meets Muslim’s criteria is somewhat lenient, since Muslim narrated from Ibn ʿAjlān only as a corroborating narrator. Thus, taken together through the two chains, the hadith is authentic. The term riwāyatan here has the sense of marfūʿan—that is, traced back to the Prophet—as established in hadith terminology. Therefore, the first chain should not be impugned on this basis; rather, this is a strong supporting report for it, as al-Ḥākim stated. Allah knows best.

628 — “Take up archery, for it is the best of your sports.”

It was recorded by Abū Ḥafṣ al-Muʾaddib in al-Muntaqā min Ḥadīth Ibn Makhlad wa-Ghayrihi (225/2), and by al-Khaṭīb in al-Muwaḍḍiḥ (2/30), through Ḥātim ibn al-Layth: Yaḥyā ibn Ḥammād narrated to us; Abū ʿAwānah narrated to us from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd, from his father, in a report traced back to the Prophet.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. All its narrators are trustworthy and are listed in al-Tahdhīb, apart from Ḥātim ibn al-Layth. Al-Khaṭīb said (8/245): “He was trustworthy, firmly reliable, precise, and a hadith master.” The remaining narrators are narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥs. Had ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr’s memory not deteriorated in his later years—