“A good, singular hadith.” As for al-Hakim, he remained silent about it, and rightly so, since this Zuhayr is weak. Al-Hafiz said: “The transmission of the people of al-Sham from him is unsound, and he was deemed weak on that account. Al-Bukhari reported from Ahmad: It is as though the Zuhayr from whom the Syrians narrate is someone else. Abu Hatim said: He narrated in al-Sham from memory, and his errors became numerous.”

However, it has another route: Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Ansari narrated it from Saʿid ibn Yasar, from Abu Hurayrah, with the same wording. Ibn ʿAsakir transmitted it in “The Fifty-Third Session of the Dictations” (folio 2/2), and al-Hakim said: “Authentic, if Allah Most High wills.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, which is astonishing, for he included this Ibrahim in his book “The Weak Narrators” and said: “He has objectionable narrations.”

I say: This is also Ibn ʿAdi’s description of him, as cited in Ibn Hajar’s “Lisan.” He said: “He cited three hadiths of his, then said: He has other reports besides these, and his hadiths are acceptable and may be countenanced.”

I say: He is weak, but not severely weak; thus, he is suitable as supporting evidence, and the hadith is good on account of him. And Allah knows best.

As for what Ibn ʿAsakir narrated through the route of Yahya ibn Hamzah al-Dimashqi, from al-Hakam ibn ʿAbd Allah, from al-Qasim, from ʿAʾishah, attributed to the Prophet, with the same wording, it is not fit to serve as a corroborating witness because of the extreme weakness of this al-Hakam, who was al-Ayli. Ahmad said: “All his hadiths are fabricated.”