to him than any other fruit.

Yet this corroborative report is also weak—indeed, severely weak. Al-Haythami said:

“Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat, and in its chain is Yusuf ibn ʿAṭiyyah al-Ṣaffār, who is discarded.”

Al-Hakim likewise cited it through the same route (4/121) and noted that Yusuf alone transmits it.

Al-Dhahabi remarked, “He is feeble.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ’s verdict is: “Its isnad is weak; it contains the very issue we mentioned a moment ago in his earlier statement on the hadith of Ibn Jaʿfar.”

Despite this weakness, the report mentions “watermelon” instead of “cucumber.” That wording, however, does have an authentic basis narrated from several Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, among them Anas—proof for this will follow.

Abu Dawud (3903) and Ibn Majah (3324) relate from ʿĀʾishah that she said:

“My mother was trying to make me gain weight so that she could present me to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but nothing worked until I ate cucumber together with fresh dates; then I gained weight in the best manner.”

Its chain is sound. Al-Ḥāfiẓ attributes it to Ibn Majah and al-Nasāʾī, apparently referring to