—is with Allah; but if you are a people who fear that some cowardice may arise within yourselves, then say so openly, for that will be an excuse for you before Allah.’

They replied, ‘Move aside, O Saʿd! By Allah, we shall never forsake this pledge, nor shall we ever be stripped of it.’ He continued, ‘So we rose and gave him our pledge; he accepted it from us, laid down the conditions, and promised that, in return, Allah would grant us Paradise.’

I say: This chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim, and in some of its routes Abū al-Zubayr explicitly stated that he heard it. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr said in his history, Al-Bidāyah wa’l-Nihāyah (3/159-160): ‘It was narrated by Aḥmad and al-Bayhaqī; this chain is sound according to the standards of Muslim, yet they did not include it.’

I later found it in Al-Mustadrak (2/624-625) through the aforementioned route, where he said, ‘Its isnād is sound; it brings together the entire pledge of al-ʿAqabah,’ and al-Dhahabī concurred. He then transmitted a brief portion from the end of it through another route from Jābir and added, ‘Authentic according to the criteria of Muslim.’

64 – ‘Whoever says, “Subḥāna-llāhi-l-ʿAẓīmi wa bi-ḥamdih” (Glorified is Allah the Magnificent, and praise is His), a date-palm will be planted for him in Paradise.’

It was narrated by Ibn Abī Shaybah in Al-Muṣannaf (12/125/2) and by al-Tirmidhī (2/258-259).