I say: This is a chain acceptable for purposes of corroboration. Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh is trustworthy, but he is weak when narrating from Medinans, and this is one such report, since this ʿUthmān was a Medinan. Ibn Abī Ḥātim included his biographical notice (3/1/156), mentioning neither criticism nor commendation of him, but noting that a number of trustworthy narrators reported from him.

The fourth: Ibn al-Mubārak also said (620): Ḥurayth ibn al-Sāʾib al-Asadī informed us, saying: Al-Ḥasan narrated to us that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said the above.

I say: This is a mursal report with a good chain of transmission. Al-Ḥasan is al-Baṣrī, and regarding Ḥurayth, al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Truthful, but prone to error; from the seventh generation.”

944 — “Renounce worldly life, and Allah will love you; renounce what people possess, and people will love you.”

It was narrated by Ibn Mājah (4102), Abū al-Shaykh in al-Tārīkh (p. 183), al-Muḥāmilī in Majlisān min al-Amālī (140/2), al-ʿUqaylī in al-Ḍuʿafāʾ (117), al-Rūyānī in his Musnad (814/2), Ibn ʿAdī in al-Kāmil (117/2), Ibn Samʿūn in al-Amālī (2/157/1), Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (3/252–253 and 7/136) and in Akhbār Iṣbahān (2/244–245), and al-Ḥākim (4/313), through several chains from Khālid ibn ʿUmar al-Qurashī, from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Abū Ḥāzim, from Sahl ibn Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, who said: “A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, guide me to a deed such that, if I do it, Allah will love me and people will love me.’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said the above.” Al-Ḥākim said: “Its chain is authentic.” Al-Dhahabī refuted him, saying: