and Ibn Shahin in al-Sunnah (no. 67 in my copy), al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (10/192), and Ibn Asakir in Tarikh Dimashq (9/307/2).

I say: al-Tirmidhi made no comment on it, and al-Harith is weak. In some of Ibn Asakir’s versions, certain narrators omitted him from the chain of transmission, while others substituted Zayd ibn Yathi for him; he is trustworthy. However, the narrator from al-Shabi is weak.

The second route is from Zirr ibn Hubaysh, from him. It was recorded by al-Dulabi in al-Kuna (2/99), Ibn Adi (100/2), Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi in al-Ikmal (1/14/2), and Ibn Asakir (9/310/1), through routes from Asim ibn Bahdalah, from him. Al-Maqdisi said: “This is a well-known hadith with numerous routes; it has been related from a group of the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

I say: This is a good chain of transmission, whose status as good is well established. Zirr is trustworthy and among the narrators used by the two Shaykhs, while Asim was narrated by them only alongside another narrator. Al-Hafiz said: “He is truthful, though prone to errors, and an authority in Quranic recitation.”

The third route: Abd Allah ibn Ahmad said in Zawaid al-Musnad (1/80):

Wahb ibn Baqiyyah al-Wasiti narrated to me: Umar—in the original, Amr—ibn Yunus al-Yamami narrated to us, from Abd Allah ibn Umar al-Yamami, from al-Hasan ibn Zayd ibn Hasan, who said: My father narrated to me from his father, from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “I was with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, approached. He said: ‘O Ali, these two are the leaders of the mature men and youth of Paradise, after the Prophets and Messengers.’”

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. All its narrators are trustworthy and well known, apart from al-Hasan ibn Zayd ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. Ibn Sad, al-Ijli, and Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy, whereas Ibn Main declared him weak,