It has another chain from him with the wording: “Shall I not tell you who holds the best rank among people?” This has already been mentioned. Then I found it in al-Mustadrak (4/464), through the route of Yahya ibn Ja‘far, who said: Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us with the same chain. He likewise said: “Authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.
It is as they said, for al-Dabari was corroborated in narrating it. Then I found it in al-Fitan by Abu Amr al-Dani (folio 153/1), through the route of Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, from Ma‘mar, with the same chain. Thus, the hadith is certainly authentic; praise be to Allah. It also has a corroborating report from the hadith of Umm Malik al-Bahziyyah. Al-Tirmidhi transmitted it and graded it good. See al-Mishkat (5400).
- “The best people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. Then there will come people who seek to grow fat: they love fatness and give testimony before it is sought from them.”
Al-Tirmidhi (2/35, 49), Ibn Hibban (2285), al-Hakim (3/471), and Ahmad (4/426) narrated it from Waki‘, who said: al-A‘mash narrated to us, from Hilal ibn Yisaf, from Imran ibn Husayn, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. This is an authentic chain according to Muslim’s criteria. Al-Hakim’s statement, “According to the criteria of the two Shaykhs,” is mistaken, even though al-Dhahabi agreed with him, because al-Bukhari only cited Hilal in a suspended narration.
Al-Tirmidhi also transmitted it through the route of Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl, from al-A‘mash, from Ali ibn Madrak, from Hilal ibn Yisaf, with the same wording. Thus, he inserted Ali ibn Madrak between al-A‘mash and Hilal. Al-Tirmidhi said: “This is how Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl narrated this hadith from al-A‘mash, from Ali ibn Madrak, from Hilal ibn Yisaf. A number of hadith masters narrated this hadith from al-A‘mash, from Hilal ibn Yisaf, without mentioning Ali ibn Madrak.” He then cited the chain mentioned above and said: