Abū Nuʿaym recorded it in al-Ḥilyah (8/41) through Abū Aḥmad Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Hamadhānī: Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Mustamlī narrated to us; Abū ʿUbaydah ibn Abī al-Safar narrated to us; al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us; al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Yūnus narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn Adham narrated to us from Manṣūr, from Mujāhid, from Anas, that a man came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: “Direct me to a deed which, if I do it, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will love me, and people will love me because of it.” The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him … He then cited it and said: “The mention of Anas in this hadith is an error on the part of either ʿUmar or Abū Aḥmad. The reliable transmitters narrated it from al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ, but did not take it beyond Mujāhid.”

He then transmitted it through Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī: al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ Abū ʿAlī al-Bajalī narrated to us with the same chain, as a mursal report attributed to the Prophet, without mentioning Anas. He said: “Al-Ḥasan said: al-Mufaḍḍal said: ‘Ibrāhīm ibn Adham did not relate to us any hadith with a chain other than this. Ṭālūt also narrated it from Ibrāhīm, but did not go beyond Ibrāhīm. As a report of Manṣūr and Mujāhid, it is rare; its well-known version is that narrated by Sufyān al-Thawrī from Abū Ḥāzim, from Sahl ibn Saʿd.’”

I say: Sufyān’s hadith through its various routes has preceded. Although they are weak, they are not severely weak—apart from the narration of Khālid ibn ʿAmr, the fabricator—and are therefore suitable for corroboration. Thus, the hadith is strengthened by them, and it is further strengthened by this mursal corroborating report, for all of its narrators are trustworthy. As for the one who related it with an uninterrupted chain, there is weakness in him: regarding Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm, al-Ḥāfiẓ said in al-Taqrīb: “Truthful, but weak in his narrations from Qatādah.” As for Abū Aḥmad Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Hamadhānī, I could find no biographical entry for him; moreover, Abū Nuʿaym’s preceding comment concerning him suggests that he is a source of weakness.

In sum, the hadith is authentic by virtue of this mursal corroborating report,