will share with you in your religion and lineage.” They asked, “The non-Arabs, Messenger of Allah?” He said, “If faith were suspended at the Pleiades, men from among the non-Arabs would attain it, and they would be the people most blessed by it.” (1)

Al-Hakim narrated it (4/395) through Hashim ibn al-Qasim: “Abd al-Rahman ibn”—the original reads, “from”—“Abd Allah ibn Dinar, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Ibn Umar,” who said: The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said it. Al-Hakim said, “Authentic according to al-Bukhari’s criteria,” and al-Dhahabi concurred.

I say: It is as they both said, were it not for the fact that more than one scholar criticized Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Dinar for his poor retention. Al-Dhahabi included him in al-Du'afa' (Weak Narrators) and said: “Trustworthy; Ibn Ma'in and others said: There is weakness in his hadith.” In al-Mizan, he said: “His hadith is sound, and he has been declared trustworthy.” In al-Taqrib, al-Hafiz said: “Truthful, but makes mistakes.”

I say: A narrator such as him can at most render his hadith good; it cannot be deemed authentic. Yet the hadith has corroborating reports that strengthen it.

Abu Nu'aym narrated it in Akhbar Asbahan (1/9), through Amr ibn Shurahbil, from one of the Companions of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in a report attributed to him, but without the second part. Its wording is: “Last night, I saw black sheep following me, and then tawny sheep came after them.” Abu Bakr said, “Those are the Arabs who followed you; then the non-Arabs came after them.” The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said, “That is likewise how the angel interpreted it for me at daybreak.”

He then narrated it through another route from Amr ibn Shurahbil, from Hudhayfah, with the same wording; and through Suwar ibn Mus'ab, from Abd al-Hamid Abu Ghiyath, from al-Sha'bi, from al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, with the same wording. Abu Nu'aym narrated it (1/209/267). (2) He then narrated it (1/10) from Amr ibn Murrah, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Abu Bakr, in a report attributed to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.