He said: “Do not say, ‘Upon you be peace,’ for ‘upon you be peace’ is the greeting of the dead. Rather, say, ‘Peace be upon you.’” I said: “Are you the Messenger of Allah?” He said: “I am the Messenger of Allah: if an affliction befalls you and you call upon Him, He removes it from you; if a year of drought befalls you and you call upon Him, He brings forth vegetation for you; and if you are in a barren land or open desert and lose your mount, then call upon Him and He will restore it to you.” I said: “Give me counsel.” He then mentioned the hadith.

After the words, “Never insult anyone,” he added: “Thereafter, I never insulted a free man, a slave, a camel, or a sheep.” Al-Tirmidhi did not relate the account in its entirety and said: “A good and authentic hadith.”

I say: Its narrators are those of al-Bukhari, apart from Abu Ghifar, whose name was al-Muthanna ibn Sa‘id al-Ta’i; and he is trustworthy. Ibn Hibban also narrated it in his Sahih, as did al-Nasa’i, as cited in al-Targhib (3/286).

I say: Al-Hakim likewise narrated it (4/186) through another route from Abu Tamimah and declared it authentic; al-Dhahabi concurred with him. Ahmad also narrated it (5/64), through Khalid al-Hadhdha’, from Abu Tamimah, in an abbreviated form, beginning with the words, “Call upon Allah alone,” and so forth, but without the words, “If a man insults you,” and so forth. In place of this, he said: “Even if you merely empty your bucket into the vessel of one seeking water.” Its chain is also authentic, as previously noted under “Call to Allah” (421).

The hadith has another route, which al-Dulabi narrated through Ziyad al-Jassas, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said: Jabir ibn Sulaym al-Hujaymi, Abu Jurayy, narrated to us: “I came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him”—the hadith in abbreviated form. Ziyad al-Jassas is Ziyad ibn Abi Ziyad al-Jassas, who is weak, as stated in al-Khulasah and al-Taqrib.

It also has a third route with an authentic chain, which will come under number (1352), with the wording: “Do not regard any act of kindness as insignificant.” The hadith. Ibn Nasr also narrated it (221/2) from Abu al-Salil, from Abu Tamimah. Its final statement, “If a man insults you,” has a corroborating narration from Ibn Umar, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “If a man insults you for something he knows about you, do not insult him for something you know about him; the reward for that will be yours, and its evil consequence will be his.” Ibn Mani‘ narrated it from him, as cited in al-Jami‘, and its commentator al-Manawi said: