It is singular among al-Zuhrī’s narrations; no one narrated it from him with this wording except Zamʿah. It is known only through the narration of Ibn Muḥayrīz, from al-Makhdajī, from ʿUbādah.

I say: All its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of Muslim, except that Muslim recorded Zamʿah ibn Ṣāliḥ only in conjunction with another narrator, and he is weak, as stated in al-Taqrīb. Nevertheless, the hadith is authentic, for it has two other routes from ʿUbādah: one is the route through al-Makhdajī to which Abū Nuʿaym referred, and the other is through al-Ṣunābiḥī from him. It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd and others, and has been cited in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd (451, 1276).

I have also found a corroborating report in the hadith of Isḥāq ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah al-Anṣārī, from his father, Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came out to us while we were in the mosque, seven of us: three Arabs and four of our clients. He said: ‘What has brought you here?’ We replied, ‘We are waiting for the prayer.’ He then traced the ground with his finger, lowered his head for a while, and then raised it toward us and said: ‘Do you know what your Lord says?’ We said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said: ‘He says: Whoever performs the prayers at their proper times and fulfils their due rights shall have a covenant with Allah …’” The hadith is similar in meaning.

Al-Ṭaḥāwī recorded it in Mushkil al-Āthār (4/225–225). Its narrators are trustworthy except for this Isḥāq, whose status is unknown. However, he was not alone in narrating it, for ʿĪsā ibn al-Musayyab al-Bajalī narrated it from al-Shaʿbī, from Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah, with the same wording. Aḥmad recorded it (4/244).

Its narrators are trustworthy except for this ʿĪsā, who is weak, though he has been declared trustworthy; thus, the chain, taken together with the two routes—