1139 — “If I had gold equal to Mount Uhud, I would be pleased that no three nights should pass while any of it remained with me—except for something I had set aside to pay a debt.”

Al-Bukhari narrated it (3/83, 7/178) from Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah, who said: Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said it, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He added: Salih and ʿUqayl narrated it from al-Zuhri.

I say: It also has another chain from Abu Hurayrah with the wording: “I would not be pleased to possess …” It will follow.

A third chain has the wording: “I would not like to possess …” It too will follow.

1140 — “The surah ‘Blessed is He’ is the protector from the punishment of the grave.”

Abu al-Shaykh, in Tabaqat al-Isfahaniyyin (264), narrated: Ishaq told us; Ahmad ibn Maniʿ told us in Kitab Fadaʾil al-Quran; Abu Ahmad al-Zubayri told us; Sufyan told us, from ʿAsim, from Zirr, from ʿAbd Allah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He cited it in the biography of this Ishaq—namely, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Jamil, nicknamed Bishah—and said: “A truthful shaykh, possessing original manuscripts, and one of the long-lived scholars. He had nearly reached one hundred years of age. He possessed al-Musnad from Ahmad ibn Maniʿ and the writings of Hushaym.”

I say: All the remaining narrators are reliable and well known, so the chain is good. Al-Hakim also narrated it (2/498) through ʿAbd Allah, who said: “Sufyan informed us of it,” as a report attributed to the Companion, in a fuller form; yet it has the status of a report attributed to the Prophet. He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

It is further supported by the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: “One of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, pitched his tent over a grave, not realizing that it was a grave. Then there was someone in it reciting the surah, ‘Blessed is He in Whose Hand is all dominion,’ until he completed it. He came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I pitched my tent over a grave, not realizing that it was a grave; then there was someone in it reciting Surah al-Mulk, “Blessed is He,” until he completed it.’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘It is the protector; it is the saviour, saving him from the punishment of the grave.’”