Its chain of transmission is sound.

It also has a corroborating report from Anas that matches al-Nasāʾī’s wording; Ibn al-Ḍuraysī recorded it in “Aḥādīth Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm al-Azdī” (5/1) with a chain whose transmitters are trustworthy.

Ibn Mājah (3326) likewise narrated it from Sahl ibn Saʿd, but that chain is extremely weak, for it contains Yaʿqūb ibn al-Walīd, whom Aḥmad and others branded a liar. The narration of ʿĀʾishah is therefore sufficient.

Ibn al-Qayyim, after citing the report with the extra wording in Zād al-Maʿād (3/175), said:

“There are several hadiths about watermelon, yet none of them is authentic except this single narration. The intended variety is the green one: it is cool and moist, has a cleansing effect, and leaves the stomach more quickly than gourds or cucumbers. It also assimilates rapidly into whatever humour it encounters in the stomach. If the eater has excess heat, he benefits from it greatly; if he is of a cold temperament, a small amount of ginger or the like will ward off its harm. It should be eaten before a meal and followed by other food; otherwise it may induce nausea and vomiting.

Some physicians have said, ‘Eaten before food, it washes the belly thoroughly and eliminates disease entirely.’”

The statement he attributed to certain physicians has indeed been transmitted as a hadith traced back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but it is not authentic. I have already discussed it in Al-Ahādīth al-Ḍaʿīfah, no. 144; whoever wishes may consult it there.

As for his remark that “the intended variety is the green one,” that is what the hadith outwardly indicates. Al-Ḥāfiẓ, however, rejected this in Fatḥ al-Bārī, asserting that what is meant is the yellow variety and supporting his view with the upcoming narration; the reply to him will follow in its place. It is: